


Lunar Lies

by AdinESmith



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, Doyoung 3rd Pov, Elves, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Part 1:, Part 2:, Royalty, Secret Enemies, verbally abusive parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdinESmith/pseuds/AdinESmith
Summary: Doyoung is apart of the royal family in the Lunar Elf Kingdom, he's sent to retrieve the Sun Artifact from their rival Solar Elf Kingdom. Little does he know after meeting the prince, Taeyong, both the paths of their lives will forever change. Fate will keep leading them to one another despite the countless adversaries, internal and external, keeping them apart.On hiatus
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 7
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

In every story Doyoung was told as a small elf, the sun and moon always chased each other in a vexing battle of rage and jealousy. 

_ Although equal in power, the Solar elves craved more power than the neighboring Lunar elves. They attacked the unsuspecting habitants and tried to steal their artifact, gifted to them by the Moon itself. War broke out between the two and the Lunar elves had to relocate far away as their castle was overrun. Throughout tens of thousands of years, each Kingdom of elves tried their hand to steal each other’s artifact and avenge the ancestors that died trying to end the war. _

Doyoung never knew what made them so angry at each other in the first place. In most stories his grandma told him, the Sun and Moon used to be good friends, until the elves began to fight and thus the celestials as well. 

It seemed to all start when the Sun and Moon both gifted one artifact to two of the ancient elven rulers, the artifacts could multiply the power of the elves and keep their kingdom strong and prosperous for years. However, like night and day the artifacts were separated by those who they were given to, and although the Lunar and Solar kingdoms stood next to one another, annual ceremonies to celebrate the artifacts were the extent of their interactions. For many years this worked well, and all the elves lived in peace, whether they stayed on the side of the Lunar influence or the Solar influence. 

Then of course, one ruler craved more power. The leader of the Solar elves thought that because the Moon’s light is reflected from the Sun, that the moon artifact belonged to the Solar elves as well. It was a bunch of bull because everyone knows the Moon has it’s own powers separate from the Sun, despite the origin of it’s light. The King was simply power hungry and used it as an excuse to sway a following that then started the war between the two elf kingdoms. 

Doyoung always sighed after his Grandma would finish telling the story, she’d ask why and he'd always respond how disappointed he was. Sure the Solar King started it, but then descendants in both Kingdom’s continued it. He always felt upset with his people, the Lunar elves had developed the same mindset that both artifacts needed to be their’s. Doyoung’s Grandma would give him a kiss on his forehead and shake her head, saying all living creatures experience jealousy and there’s nothing that can stop it. Then he’d be sent off to bed before his parents had a chance to yell at him for staying up too late. 

◈◈◈

“You called, your Highness.” Doyoung steps closer to the elaborate throne in front of him and deeply bows his head. It doesn’t matter if the man in front of him is his father, and the woman next to him his step mother, he must still greet them like he’s a servant. Doyoung slowly lifts his head to stare at the tapping fingers upon the stone arms of the chair. He gulps, wracking through his brain for any missteps he might have taken in the past few days that would upset the King and Queen. 

“Yes, Dongyoung, I have a mission for you,” The King speaks slowly, the jewelry dangling from his arm dingles as he moves his hand through the air. 

“A mission?” Doyoung mistakenly asks, he quickly lowers his head again after the Queen glares down at his outburst. 

The Lunar King nods, “That’s right. The mission you’ve been trained for. No more games. You must not fail.” Doyoung doesn’t understand, it’s not like them to trust him with something huge. In fact, they hate giving him tasks because he always completes them well and then is praised by the public, they despise that. It’s strange, they’ve trained him since such a young age to do exactly that and hated it when he failed, but they also seem to hate it when he succeeds. 

“The Solar relic,” The Queen sneers, “You will be sent to the Solar Kingdom, take on a job as a servant in the castle, infiltrate their center and find the artifact. Then you will steal it and bring it straight back to us.” Doyoung eye’s widen, he wants to protest but he never dares to. Stealing the Solar artifact, he never thought he’d be the one sent next to try their hand at grabbing it. He never wanted to do it, but now he has no choice. 

“Yes, my Queen. I understand,” Doyoung responds. 

“Do not fail,” The Queen snaps, “You are not to make pleasantries with anyone that might compromise your position. You will go by your nickname, Doyoung, and are never to mention your full name or your position in the Lunar royal bloodline. Never tell anyone at all that you are from the Lunar Kingdom, that will only bring up suspicions.”

“Understood.”

“Start your packing,” The King speaks, he flicks his hand, the many rings sparkling under the moonlight shining from above. Doyoung straightens out and pivots, briskly walking towards the throne room’s exit.

A booming voice stops him, “Dongyoung.” It’s the Queen, uttering a last warning. “Do not, ever, let the Solar King see you. He will recognize you in an instant and everything will be over. If you come back here empty handed, you might as well have died by their hands.” 

Doyoung swallows and nods, taking a deep breath as he leaves the stone room. He better not mess this up, any outcome where he doesn’t get the artifact does not look good. 

◈◈◈

“I heard about your mission, that’s a tough one,” A short elven soldier says to Doyoung. Doyoung glances over at the golden skinned boy with fluffy brown hair, the tips now a faded purple. His ears are a bit shorter and sharply pointed, which adds to his deceivingly cute look. 

“Donghyuck-”

The boy rolls his eyes and holds his hand up, silencing Doyoung. “How many times have I told you to use my nickname, Haechan. I use your nickname so it’s only right you use mine.”

Doyoung clears his throat, “Then, Haechan, why are you here?” He motions to his room which the soldier has currently barged into without warning. Several messy piles of clothing are laid upon Doyoung’s bed and he’s quite embarrassed of them. He can’t help it though, he needs to pick the best clothes to bring for his journey, and the suitcase has limited space. 

The younger boy slings his arm around Doyoung and ruffles his hair, Doyoung pushes him off, upset at the motion. “Relax my prince, I only came to bid you farewell.” Haechan uses a formal accent and over exaggerates a bow. 

“I’m not a Prince.” Doyoung shoves a few more items into his bag, he carefully looks over at a different pile of shirts and picks through them. 

Haechan sighs beside him, “When are you going to accept the fact that you are. Just because the King and Queen don’t acknowledge it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

Doyoung shuts the suitcase, “Doesn’t matter if it’s true. I’ll never be recognized as one. My half brother will be crowned when the time comes, and right now I’ll either return from this mission and given another after, or I won’t return at all.” He receives a slap on his shoulder. “Hey!”

“Don’t think negatively like that, you will return, and I’ll make sure to celebrate when you do,” Haechan chuckles, “I can finally drink you know, we can get so wasted! I can brag to everyone about how my friend was the one who finally took the Sun Artifact and brought it here to the Lunar Kingdom.” 

“Yeah, we aren’t friends, and I don’t get wasted.” Doyoung steps past the guard, putting away several of the leftover piles. 

“Come on, I’ve known you for what? Six years now and you still don’t consider us friends?” Haechan pouts, crossing his arms and using a whiney tone. 

Doyoung sighs, “I’ve already told you I don’t do friendships. I can’t.”

“Bleh, whatever,” Haechan sticks his tongue out, “At least come say goodbye to your other ‘not friends’ before leaving. We don’t know how long it will be until you return.”

“If I return,” Doyoung mumbles. 

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” Doyoung grabs his luggage and heads for the door, he pauses, holding it open for the younger. “Come on.” Haechan grins and skips out, having the older follow him to the courtyard. Waiting there are two other tall figures, one is a bit shorter with ash grey hair and medium length ears. His smiling dimples help Doyoung to immediately recognize him as Jaehyun, one of the other guards working in the castle that often hangs out with Haechan. He often tries to hang out with Doyoung too. The taller boy next to him has sharp cheekbones that match his sharp ears, his eyebrows are bold too but it makes for attractive features. It’s Xiaojun, one of the other two trouble maker’s friends. 

Doyoung waves politely to the two of them, who rush over and envelop him in an unwarranted hug. He doesn’t know how to react so he stands still while they squeeze him. 

“We’re going to miss you buddy,” Jaehyun says to him. Doyoung musters a smile as the two pull away. 

“Yeah, with you gone I fear these two will turn to torturing me instead,” Xiaojun whines. Haechan shoots him a cold look but turns back to Doyoung who is still unmoving, he laughs at the awkwardness of the older. 

“Don’t replace us while you’re there okay,” Haechan warns, but he too places his arms around Doyoung. For some reason this makes Doyoung feel a little sting as the younger gently buries his face into his shoulder. Then, Haechan throws his head back and sniffles as he pulls away. 

“Thank you…” Doyoung doesn’t quite know how to respond, he honestly wasn’t expecting anyone to see him leave besides maybe his older brother, the only blood family who ever recognizes him. Although, looking around, the one person Doyoung thought would come isn’t here. Jaehyun places a hand on his shoulder, noticing Doyoung’s head swiveling around. 

“Don’t worry, your brother told us to tell you goodbye for him. He had to run some errands in the lower part of the city, King’s orders, and knew he wouldn’t be able to make it,” Jaehyun explains. He feels a little sad, but Doyoung understands. It is never wise to go against the King or Queen’s orders, Doyoung and his brother especially know this. 

“Doyoung!” A voice calls from behind them all, Doyoung thinks he recognizes it but he can’t quite tell. Turning around he tilts his head to the side, confused at the sight of his younger half sibling bounding towards him. The moonlight illuminates his figure too brightly to make out his face, but Doyoung could never mistake Jeno for anyone else. Once he arrives in front of the older, Jeno stops to catch his breath and holds up a hand to ask for a second. 

“Prince Jeno-” Doyoung starts, but he is stopped by a pair of arms being thrown around him, again. The younger pretty much squeezes all of the air out of his older brother before finally letting go. 

“Please be careful Doyoung, I really…” Jeno starts to get choked up and lowers his head. 

Doyoung has never seen him like this. He was always smiling, the younger used to stick around him a lot as a child. There was once he thought he saw Jeno crying, when Doyoung was yelled at for letting Jeno follow him around. The King and Queen didn’t like that. To be clear, they don’t like Doyoung, but they love their son Jeno. Jeno came up to him later and tried to apologize but he was shaking, Doyoung told him it was okay he just couldn’t follow him around anymore, and that was when the younger ran away with tears. 

“I really am going to miss you,” Jeno finishes. Doyoung places a hand on his shoulder, he’s always had a soft spot for Jeno. He wanted to be a proper older brother, half sibling or not, and this may be his last chance. 

“Don’t worry Jeno, I’ll return in no time. Then I can tell you all about what the Solar Kingdom is like.”

Jeno smiles brightly up at him, nodding. He wipes away his few tears as the older turns away, walking several feet away from the party. Doyoung takes a deep breath and stares into the moon above, he recites a shrinking spell and compacts his luggage, shoving it into his pocket. Then, Doyoung smirks as he calls upon his wings which spring outwards from his back, spanning twice the size of his height. They’re a beautiful deep black color and one of his greatest prides. The way the moon shines against them and makes the feathers glisten always fills Doyoung with content. 

Pushing his wings up against the air, he slowly lifts himself higher and higher, waving to the four figures that become smaller and smaller. Soon he cannot see them at all, only smell the fresh air from high above and feel the gentle mist of passing clouds. Doyoung begins to head forward in the direction that will lead him to the Solar Kingdom. He grins as he loops around in the air and stretches out in the night sky, the beautiful moon showering down light on a nearby lake. With his home behind him, Doyoung no longer thinks of the past, and instead focuses on the future and his mission. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung reaches the Solar Kingdom and settles into work.

Doyoung reaches the Solar Kingdom within a few days, it’s golden castle glittering in the sun. It’s a bit too bright for Doyoung’s taste, he’s more accustomed to the cool tones and blues of the Lunar Kingdom. It’s decorations are all sun themed, naturally, but they’re littered throughout the city even more so than the moon decorations in his kingdom. 

The people here are a lot louder too, and the homes packed closer together, the market more crowded. Doyoung avoids any large gatherings so as to not overwhelm himself and instead makes straight for the palace. Luckily, someone was able to point him to where the servants entrance is. Apparently an open spot had already been secured for Doyoung, that’s why they sent him now, and all he needs to do is pass the interview. 

Entering into a busy corridor, Doyoung looks around for any sign of where he’s supposed to be. The walls are made of stone bricks and light streams in from the many open windows throughout the hall. Doyoung slowly makes his way down, cramming against the side as busy workers push past him holding barrels of water and various objects. As he makes it into a more open area, a tall man with soft eyes looks him up and down then motions for him to come over. 

“Are you Kim Doyoung?” He asks. Doyoung nods. The taller breaks out into a large smile, “I’m Johnny, the head of servants for this sector of the castle. Follow me and we can get you settled in.”

Following Johnny, Doyoung’s nerves ease a little bit. The taller boy is quite welcoming, he seems like the kind of person that gets along well with everyone. Not that Doyoung is looking to be close with anyone, he’s just relieved that Johnny probably won’t give him too much trouble. 

They enter a back room with a desk and some chairs, papers are stacked around and a set of keys are hung up on the farthest wall. Johnny motions to a chair and sits across from it at the desk, Doyoung seats himself in the chair he pointed to. 

“Now,” Johnny begins, pulling out some papers, “You’re Kim Doyoung, here to apply for the open servants position that includes cleaning, polishing, other various duties related to that, and overall upkeep of certain areas in the castle, correct?”

“That’s correct,” Doyoung responds.

“Good, had to make sure I had the right person,” Johnny chuckles a little, “So, I have your name and what you’re here for but before the job is one hundred percent yours, why don’t you tell me a bit more about yourself? I like to get to know each of my employees when they first come, just to bring up comfortability. Family? Friends? Aspirations?”

Doyoung clears his throat, remembering back to the scenarios he was given as examples to use in case anything like this came up. “I’m an only child, my parents and I live out far from the central city. This is my first time near the castle, but I’ve always wanted to see it’s beauty since I was young.”

The taller nods. “You lived on a farm?”

“Not quite…” Doyoung pauses, “It’s more that our house is in a secluded area. My parents are scholars and prefer to stay in their study all day, alone.”

“Sounds like a lonely childhood,” Johnny comments and frowns. He scribbles a few things down onto a paper before rising and sifting through a drawer for something. “Go on, what are your plans for the future?”

“Uh, I don’t, I don’t have any.” It’s not a lie. Doyoung’s never thought about his future before, he’s lived everyday since childhood focusing on whatever the King or Queen are commanding him to do. Right now the only things on his mind are the missions and the artifact, after that he just assumes life will go on and he’ll get another mission.

“That’s alright, everybody needs a place to start. Even if you don’t have anything specific in mind now, I’m sure you’ll figure it out eventually.” Johnny pulls a stamp from the drawer and presses it into the paper on the table. “There, you’re all set! The job is yours, I’ll give you a key to your room. You can get settled in and then check out the schedule and list of duties on your bed, your room is located on the second floor hallway after the first two right turns. Work will start today whenever you’re ready but afterwards be sure to come down here and check in by six am every morning.” Doyoung is handed a set of keys and gently shoved out of the room, Johnny waves him good luck as he heads off down a different hallway. 

Taking a deep breath, Doyoung stares at the keys in his hand then starts towards the staircase he spotted earlier. He has no clue where anything is yet, but he’s sure he can figure it out.

◈◈◈

It only took about twenty minutes for Doyoung to find his room, luckily there’s a map of the castle in one of the service hallways and his room location is printed on the set of keys he was handed. After placing his luggage down and reading the papers left for him, Doyoung gets right to work. He’s not one to delay starting anything, plus he can use the extra time to memorize the layout of the castle. Doyoung already plans to explore tonight. It’s unlikely he’ll find where the artifact is in one night but he has to start somewhere, besides there might be some secret pathways or something. There’s a ton back in the Lunar Castle which Doyoung has thoroughly explored since childhood. Several of the passageways the King and Queen don’t even know about, and allowed him to have a bit of time alone when needed. 

Johnny passes by and stops, he observes Doyoung carefully dusting off several shelves in one of the lower storage rooms. “Wow, you’ve already started.”

Doyoung pauses, suddenly a bit nervous, “Yeah sorry, is that okay?”

“Of course!” Johnny laughs, grabbing something from one of the shelves, “I can tell you’ll become one of the favorite workers here if you keep up this pattern.” He winks as he leaves, shutting the door behind. Doyoung exhales, glad that he has successfully not failed at anything yet. 

Moving further into the castle, Doyoung tries to memorize the turns he takes but every hallway looks the same. Golden carpets extend down the halls with matching golden banners that hang down from the ceiling. Sun patterns are on every tapestry and the same circular designed lanterns on every wall. Even the tables throughout the corridors are the same. 

It’s not long before Doyoung turns down a dead end and stares out a large open window into the night sky. The familiar light of the moon draws him to the edge and he sticks his head out, closing his eyes as he deeply breaths in the fresh night air. He wasn’t aware he’d been working for this long already. The light of the moon is a bit weaker here, but seeing it is all Doyoung needs to feel comforted and refreshed. The sun burns for a few extra hours in the Solar Kingdom which makes a drier atmosphere, at least it feels like that to Doyoung who’s not used to the blaring heat. 

The stars are out, twinkling as well and Doyoung stands for a few minutes admiring the scenery. He’s a few levels higher up than he thought and the entire city can be seen below, although unlike his home kingdom, barely any lights are on at this hour. They must go to bed quite early, shunning away from the moon. It’s okay, that means the night can be only for Doyoung. 

He is a bit tired from today and yawns as he turns back around. Doyoung stumbles backwards as he now faces someone and almost falls out the window behind him. The person reaches out and grabs his collar, steading the elf. Doyoung swallows as he stares into the face of an undeniably beautiful man. His eyes are large and kind, the reflection of the moon making them sparkle now as they are only a few inches away from Doyoung. His jawline is sharp but his nose and eyebrows are soft. The long ears below his flowing blond hair are rounded at their tips with several short silver chains hanging from them in decoration. 

Doyoung can’t help but stare at the boy, unable to take his eyes off. The blonde haired boy is gazing back, his hand still firmly gripping Doyoung’s collar. 

Doyoung finally comes to his senses and clears his throat, which makes the other snap away.

“Um, Thank you,” Doyoung awkwardly thanks him as he fixes his shirt’s collar. The other doesn’t respond, only furrows his brows and pouts like a child. “Sorry, did I do something wrong?” Doyoung has no idea what’s going on with the man, he looks not quite angry, more confused. 

Then Doyoung becomes the confused one when the boy in front of him bursts out laughing. “You’re fine It’s just…” He pauses, then smirks. “Be careful about these windows. You must be new here to almost fall out of one.”

Doyoung shrugs, “I don’t think I would have almost fallen if you hadn’t scared me like that.”

“Ah, but you would have fallen if I hadn’t saved you.”

“That’s not,” Doyoung scrunches his nose in frustration, “That’s not how it works. You wouldn’t have had to save me if you hadn’t been standing behind me and made me jump backwards.”

The blonde haired boy blinks at him for a few seconds and Doyoung worries that he’s gone too far, but then the other chuckles a bit. “Okay you win, I’m sorry. I saw you over here and I didn’t recognize you so I thought I’d come and say hello. I’m Taeyong.” He holds out his hand, Doyoung raises an eyebrow at him but takes the hand, shaking it gently. 

“I’m Doyoung, but I’m sure there’s thousands of staff in the castle and I doubt you know all of them, how could you tell I’m new?”

Taeyong blushes a bit and looks away, “To be honest, I’ve never seen many others with ear’s as pointed as yours.” Suddenly it’s Doyoung’s turn to become flustered and he brings his hands up to cover his sharp ears. 

“Sorry…”

“No, no!” Taeyong flails his hands around, “I think you’re pretty! I mean, I think they’re pretty! Your ears, your ears I mean.” He nervously laughs and runs his hand’s through his light colored hair, “What am I saying.”

Doyoung has never had any encounters like this before, so he has no clue how to proceed. All he can manage is a few words before pushing past Taeyong, desperate to escape from the situation, “Thanks, I guess. I like your ears too.” He has no idea what he’s saying either, but all Doyoung can focus on is trying to get away from this guy. The words of the Queen ring in his head, no pleasantries. No friendships, that’s how it’s always been for Doyoung and he’s not about to start now. 

“Wait!” Taeyong calls out behind him, but Doyoung only walks faster away, heart pounding as his pace picks up. He only looks back briefly to see the boy still following him while turning a corner before, slamming his legs into a wall, his top half bending forward out another window. Doyoung’s nerves spike as he struggles to steady his feet inside the castle and feels his upper half falling further forward. He shuts his eyes tight but the next second he’s being thrown back onto the cold floor, a foot caught under his legs. A small yelp of pain sounds from behind him and Doyoung scrambles off the body, instantly apologizing. Of course it’s Taeyong again.

“Geez,” Taeyong rubs his leg where Doyoung landed on top of him, “Do you have a habit of almost falling out of windows?” Doyoung swivels his head to observe the opening behind him where he almost fell out of, he groans, embarrassed it happened twice, and that this guy had to save him again. If this happened at home he would have been able to summon his wings and fly safely away, but he can’t do that here. Only Elves from a royal bloodline have the ability of flight, so if anyone found out about Doyoung’s wings, they’d find out about his heritage too. Then the mission would be over, and probably Doyoung’s life too. 

Doyoung reaches out a hand to help Taeyong up, the blond haired boy smiles at it and takes it, lifting himself to his feet. 

“Who decided to make the windows this big? They could have at least positioned them a little higher on the wall, then there wouldn’t be a hazard,” Doyoung grumbles. 

Taeyong brushes himself off, “You can thank me later, and the first Solar King designed the castle with large windows to allow the sunlight to freely stream into the hallways throughout the day.” Doyoung winces, cursing himself for not studying more about the Solar Castle before coming, the other lifts an eyebrow at him. “You must be really new, never been in the central city before have you?”

“No. I come from a place pretty far from here so I’m not going to know everything. But I’ll learn, now if you’ll excuse me I have to get back to work, I’m sure you have a job to do too.” As Doyoung pushes past the boy once more, he hears him laughing again, he has no clue why though. Maybe he’s laughing at Doyoung. Whatever, Doyoung doesn’t have time to worry about this, he needs to get back and rest for the night. 

He steps out into the hallway and freezes, turning his head to both sides. Doyoung shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to remember which way will lead him back to his area of the castle. 

“You lost, newbie?”

Doyoung sighs, he can’t escape this guy. “Taeyong was it?”

“It’s been two seconds and you’ve already forgotten my name,” Taeyong scoffs. 

“Listen, I’m sorry for making you save me, twice,” Doyoung hesitates on his next words, turning to face the one next to him, “If I admit that I’m lost can you tell me where the servants quarters are?” He bites his lip, hoping he isn’t being bothersome. First he walks away from this guy, then almost falls out of a window, doesn’t even say thank you when Taeyong saves him, and now he’s asking him for directions. If Taeyong doesn’t hate him already, he must now. 

“Don’t worry about it, I can lead you there, but you’ll owe me in the future. For saving your life, three times,” Taeyong teasingly sticks out his tongue a little and makes a cute face before swiftly turning on his heels and flicking his hands. “This way newbie.” 

Doyoung exhales, he shakes his head at himself while catching up to Taeyong. Day one and he’s already made potential hindrances for his mission. If he runs into this guy again, it could provide trouble. 

Absolutely no pleasantries. He frowns at himself for breaking a top rule. This mission might prove more difficult than Doyoung thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a poster for the first part of the fic, you can find it posted on my twitter! Did you enjoy this chapter? 
> 
> I will be posting on Mondays and Fridays.


	3. Chapter 3

At the end of his first week of working, Doyoung sneaks out near sunset and happily skips down to the forest by the city. He walks pretty far away from any of the outskirts and checks around for any stray elves. Then, he waits for the sun to sink behind a hill and for the moon to make it’s appearance before summoning his wings. 

The black feathery masses that spring from his back give him comfort as they stretch out to their full span. Doyoung rolls his shoulders a few times before checking each wing for any out of place feathers. They’ve been concealed for longer than he’s used to, usually Doyoung sneaks in night flights over the lake at home but he’s been so exhausted from working and exploring the castle he hasn’t had any time. 

Pushing off from the ground, Doyoung breaks above the tree line and basks in the moonlight warming his skin. He smiles brightly as a cool breeze gently grazes him and shakes the leaves below. Doyoung makes sure to stay close to the trees so he isn’t spotted but when a group of birds lifts off into the sky he can’t help but follow them. He twists and turns, making circles through the air. This is his freedom, his main source of escape since he could first bring out his wings. The memories of the first time still play vividly in Doyoung’s mind. 

◈◈◈

_ “I’m sorry! Please forgive me, I’ll never do it again I promise!” Doyoung screamed as he was dragged away by his collar. The Queen’s nails digging into his arms were sharp, and a few drops of blood dripped from the marks being left there.  _

_ Gongmyung, Doyoung’s older brother, pleaded next to the Queen, “Please, Dongyoung didn’t mean for the stones to break the vase, I was teaching him a new magic spell and he was better than I expected-” _

_ “Well then if he’s so advanced in his magic, he’ll be able to call upon his wings when I throw him over the cliff!” _

_ “No! He’s only eight he’ll fall into the water! They won’t appear for two more years!” Gongmyung screamed out.  _

_ Tears streamed down Doyoung’s face as the Queen dragged him closer and closer to the edge of a steep fall. He desperately looked over at his brother, who was being held back by their father, the King. A few elves had gathered around to watch, shocked by the scene but unmoving to help the child.  _

_ As he was dangled over the edge, Doyoung looked up the moon and did his best to calm himself. He shut his eyes tightly, feeling his shirt be released and his body begin to fall. For the first few seconds all he could do was scream, but then he suddenly felt the energy from the moon around him. He focused as well as he could, remembering Gongmyung’s lesson about trying to gather the magic that buzzes in the air. Doyoung felt his back become heavier and his body was violently stopped against the air. He thought he might have hit the water and gone unconscious, but after slowly opening his eyes, the water was still far below. Doyoung craned his neck to look up and gasped, two pitch black wings were flapping behind him. No, not behind but just above, because somehow they were attached to him.  _

_ He mustered the strength and began to rise upward, stumbling down a few times before gaining the hang of it and happily bursting towards the sky. His tiny body was carried so easily in the wind and soon Doyoung was up near the clouds. The feeling was invigorating, he was unchained and everything up there happened on his own terms. This was something Doyoung hadn’t experienced in his whole life, he laughed happily for once and deeply breathed in the sweet scented air. He suddenly wanted to stay there forever, never going back down. Never go back to the horrid place he had to call home.  _

_ Gongmyung hurriedly joined him soon and hugged Doyoung mid air, his face stained with tears.  _

_ “Gongmyung look! I have my wings!” Doyoung excitedly exclaimed. _

_ “I know, I’m so proud of you, and I’m so happy,” his brother held him once more before taking his hand and guiding him back down to the surface. He watched as the elves clapped and gasped at him, while the King stood in shock, and the Queen in disgust.  _

_ “If you really are as ‘special’ as your brother says you are, then your powers will be put to good use. Training starts tomorrow.” The Queen gritted her teeth while saying her words and turned away, ushering the crowd to disperse. She dragged the King away with her but Gongmyung and Doyoung stayed put. Doyoung didn’t care about the Queen’s declaration, he turned his head to admire his wings once more, smiling uncontrollably at them.  _

_ Whenever he felt frustrated or upset, Doyoung would take a flight to relieve his stress. After being yelled at for hours over a small mistake, he turned to the quiet skies for a peaceful break. It was one of the few things the King and Queen could never take away from Doyoung. _

◈◈◈

Completing a last loop, Doyoung waves goodbye to the birds flying away now and heads back to where he first emerged. As he heads down though, he spots a figure between the trees and dives down immediately. Branches claw as his arms and legs as he falls to the forest floor, not expecting anyone to be out here. 

Doyoung lands down with a hard thud and lays back, groaning. He lets his wings disappear and catches the breath that escaped him upon his fall. A rustling comes from ahead and Doyoung prepares to explain just what it is he’s doing out in the forest in the middle of the night. He’s quite shocked when a familiar face peeps out from behind a bush. 

“Taeyong?” Doyoung squints to try and confirm it is who he thinks it is, when the figure steps forward he know’s he’s right. Taeyong is dressed in a dark cloak and is holding a basket filled with flowers of all colors. His hair is tied back into a small ponytail and the moonlight illuminates his perfect shining skin. 

“Doyoung? Thank the sun it’s just you!”

Doyoung stands, wincing at the pain of a cut on his leg. “What does that mean?”

Taeyong’s eyes widen and he fumbles his words a bit, “N-nothing, I just, uh, well you aren’t a wolf or anything so that’s good,” his eyes travel up and down the younger’s body, “I’m here to collect flowers but... what were you doing out here?”

“I was,” Doyoung clears his throat, trying to think of something, “I was tree climbing…” 

“Tree climbing? In the middle of the night?”

“Yes, well, I don’t get breaks during the day and I used to always do it back where I’m from so yeah.” Doyoung would like to smack himself in the face, or possibly slam his head into the nearest rock. He’s literally never climbed a tree before, but that was the best thing he could come up with. Luckily, Taeyong just laughs a little and shrugs.

“Since you’re here, I’m going to cash in that favor you owe me.”

Doyoung tilts his head, “Okay?”

“Help me collect some flowers,” the blonde haired boy waves his basket around a little and walks towards the younger. He grabs his wrist and starts to tug him in the direction he came from, “Come on, there’s a nice bed over here.” 

Without much time to think about the coincidence of meeting Taeyong again during the middle of the night, Doyoung lets himself be dragged over to a field of flowers. Taeyong bends over and begins to gently uproot several fully bloomed ones and places them into his basket. Taking a few seconds to process, Doyoung eventually kneels down as well and grabs a few blue ones, laying them ontop of the already collected ones. 

“Make sure to get plenty of colors,” Taeyong tells him, pulling up some pink ones. Doyoung looks over at him, observing the boy hard at work. His side profile is even more breathtaking, and Doyoung’s eyes travel down to the hands gently grasping some delicate flowers. Opposite from their owner’s strong looks, his hands are frail looking, the blue veins clearly visibly and his knuckles protruding sharply. It is now that Doyoung notices a ring on Taeyong’s left hand with the same sun design he’s seen throughout the entire castle. 

He points to it, “Your ring, it’s the same as the sun patterns.” 

“What?” Taeyong glances over at him then down to where he’s pointing, strangely his eyes widen, “Yeah, it’s just some ring I bought once at the city market.” A nervous laugh escapes the older. He stands. “Okay, I think we’ve collected enough for what I need, shall we head back to the castle?” Taeyong extends a hand down to Doyoung, mirroring the motion Doyoung had done the night before. He takes the hand and stands to meet his height, towering a bit above. 

“What do you need these for anyways?” Doyoung questions. 

Taeyong grins, “Don’t worry about it.” This guy becomes more of a mystery every time they meet, even if Doyoung has only met him twice. Taeyong leads the way through the forest, clearly knowing his way back well. At least, he knows the direction to go but he constantly trips over vines and fallen branches and Doyoung has to grab and stabilize him each time. Eventually Doyoung just holds his hands barely off of Taeyong’s shoulders in order to keep him upright faster. 

Taeyong trips again and nervously laughs another apology as Doyoung grips his shoulders to keep him standing. 

“Seriously, if you don’t stop being clumsy you’re going to drop all the flowers we picked,” Doyoung scowls. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Taeyong chuckles, “I’ll be more careful.” He steps forward a bit, away from Doyoung’s touch. 

“Seriously shouldn’t you know-” The younger elf starts to speak but is cut off by a sudden spell being spoken by the older, Doyoung’s eyes are shut closed by a powerful spell. 

“Sorry about this Doyoung, thanks for the help but I have to split off now. The castle is just up ahead, see you around,” Taeyong speaks quickly in front of him, but before Doyoung can shout at him to ask what’s going on, he hears hurried rustling followed by silence. The spell on his eyes is lifted and he opens them to find himself alone. 

Confused by the strangeness of Taeyong, Doyoung just shakes his head and brushes it off. He stomps forward, finding the Solar castle to indeed be right in front of him and makes his way towards the servants door. It really doesn’t make sense, if he and Taeyong were going to enter the same way anyways, why would he insist on going separately and not letting Doyoung see? Also, Taeyong seems to have strong magic, it almost matches Doyoung’s level. 

This means he’ll have to watch out, Taeyong could be a real threat to his mission.

Doyoung successfully makes it to his room and quickly washes up, changing into his night clothes. He flops down on his bed and heavily exhales, staring up at the blank ceiling. Only about a week has gone by, but he already misses some of the comforts of home. The clear view of the moon everynight from his bedroom, the light star designs on his ceiling, hours spent in the secret passageways and his time getting to explore new spells in the study. Of course, Doyoung doesn’t miss the constant berating he received from the King and Queen, or the never ending list of missions and chores he had to complete each day. One mistake on anything and it was a twenty minute lecture before getting his pillows or blankets taken away for a week. 

He turns in his bed and grabs the small plush hedgehog he was able to sneak in. Doyoung was never able to have it out back home, he’d be ridiculed and mocked for it, but he can have it out freely here. It’s small, but it brings him comfort as he holds it close to his chest. This tiny hedgehog is one of the only friends he’s ever had. Not that he’s lonely or needs friends. 

It’s not long before Doyoung drifts off into a deep sleep, snuggled under his warm blankets and his head gently resting on two fluffy pillows. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of Doyoung's past will be scattered throughout the story. Did you enjoy today's update?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since they are elves, they're experience of 1 year in our time would be 100 years. Basically 100 years for en elf = 1 human year.

Today Doyoung is assigned to work in the kitchen, he stands scrubbing some pots leftover from breakfast. He showed up earlier than his partner who clambers over, half awake. He’s kind of short with rounded ears, and his hair is a bright red color, reminding Doyoung of a tomato. 

“Good morning,” the shorter grumbles as he picks up a pot. He hisses as his hands touch the scalding water, Doyoung turns it a bit cooler for him. Johnny enters the kitchen and smiles at the two of them, clapping them on the back. 

“Ah, I see you got the morning duty with Doyoung, Taeil. Watch out, he’s quite the hard worker so don’t let him steal all the glory when washing dishes,” Johnny winks at Doyoung who gives a polite smile back. It’s not that he’s more hardworking than anyone else, Doyoung is just used to having to do tasks like this back at home. Plus these ones he’s getting paid for, and it’s covering up his mission. 

“Kid,” the red haired guy, named Taeil apparently, turns to Doyoung, “Don’t work yourself too hard, I can guarantee it’s not worth it here, barely anyone gets a promotion.”

  
“Hey!” Johnny slaps the other who splashes some water at him playfully. “Let the boy dream, if he wants to work hard let him. That just means I’ll have the best employee under my sector.” The tallest shows a proud smile while grabbing a few things from a high up cabinet. He and Taeil continue their small talk while Doyoung scooches over to put some of the dried pans away.

The door to the kitchen swings open and Doyoung notices suddenly everyone else in the kitchen stand at attention, everyone scrambles to pause what they are doing. Doyoung turns to see what’s going on.

“The King will be entering shortly, everyone make themselves presentable!” An attendant shouts into the kitchen.  _ Crap! _ Doyoung frantically looks around for some place to hide himself, and through all the chaos he spots a small storage room where the bags of flour are kept. It’s no bigger than about two feet wide but Doyoung dashes in and shuts the door behind him. With everyone else distracted, they don’t see him hide away, but the door is made of wooden slats so Doyoung can still see out from it. He holds his breath as everyone in the kitchen stills and a majestic figure emerges from the door, someone tags behind him. Peering at the scene and breathing in the flour dust, he suddenly has a flashback to his childhood but pushes the memory to the side in order to focus. 

Everyone immediately bows, and the King holds up his hands to acknowledge their presences, then he starts to speak. “My son is holding his tea party tomorrow, I expect you all know how today will go. I came here today to personally ask you to prepare your finest sweets. Have them ready thirty minutes before it begins and make the setup it’s usual artistry. Tomorrow he would like two kinds of tea, bitter and sweet, so have those prepared as well.” Doyoung is confused as the King lists off several other requests, his father never personally went anywhere in the castle where the servants worked. He and the Queen would always tell someone else who would then report, but maybe they do things differently here. 

Doyoung strains his neck to try and see who it is beside the King, and he covers his mouth, stopping a gasp. Of course, once again it’s Taeyong standing so perfectly next to the king. His radiance, to Doyoung, outshines the King. Weird for an assistant as beautiful as Taeyong chosen to stand next to the King, it just pulls the attention away from the leader and to the younger. Although, maybe Taeyong isn’t his assistant? After all, Doyoung has no clue what Taeyong’s job in the castle really is. Maybe a florist?

He makes the mistake of stepping back a bit which shakes a bag and releases some flour dust into the air, Doyoung has to hold his breath in order to keep from coughing. Finally when his breath is almost gone, the King finally exits the kitchen. He steps out, and everyone lets their breath go, relieved the visit is over. Doyoung dusts himself off and shuts the door to the flour closet before returning back to his spot by the sink. Taeil gives him a questioning look, clearly noticing his absences and the powder on his shirt. 

“Where did you go?” The older asks. 

Doyoung begins to scrub another pot, not looking over. “I went to go put some dry dishes away. Accidentally went into the flour storage instead thinking it was a cabinet for plates, my bad.”

“It’s okay, you’ll figure out where everything is soon,” Taeil reassures him. They continue to wash in silence before Doyoung’s mind wanders back to thinking about the mysterious blonde haired boy. 

“Uh, Taeil?”

“Yes?”

Doyoung bites his lip, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Go for it,” the older responds.

“Who was that standing next to the King just now?” 

Taeil’s mouth drops wide open, “Are you serious?”

Doyoung becomes worried and he scrubs faster while looking over at the older with shaking eyes, “Yes?”

“Doyoung, that’s the King’s Son. Prince Taeyong.” Doyoung drops his pot, it clangs against the sink and his breath catches. His knees almost give out as his eyes widen in shock. “Doyoung what’s wrong? Are you okay? Are you feeling okay?”

It takes a few seconds before Doyoung finally breathes again and he gives a weak, fake smile to Taeil. “I’m good.” He slowly picks up the pot he dropped and rubs the soapy sponge back and forth over it. His mind races through the previous interactions he’s had with Taeyong, no, the Prince. Doyoung did not at all treat him like a Prince, he quite literally was a bit rude at some points. He wishes to bang the pot against his head thinking about when he ran away from the literal Prince of the Solar Kingdom. That’s why Taeyong’s magic was so powerful, and why he couldn’t enter the palace with Doyoung.

_ Nice going Doyoung, not even the first month of your mission and you’ve already disrespected the Prince and quite possibly ruined any chance of completing this thing.  _

Doyoung racks his brain for any reason at all why Taeyong, the Prince, wouldn’t let him know upon their first meeting that he’s royalty. What would he want to do with a servant anyways? It doesn’t really matter though because Doyoung is probably screwed for the rest of his life if anybody finds out how he spoke to the Prince. 

He lets out a groan and pushes his head back. As if his life already wasn’t a mess, now he has to deal with this. 

“Are you sure you’re doing okay Doyoung?” Taeil asks next to him. 

Doyoung gives a half nod, “Yes, but I think I’ve just dug my own grave.”

Taeil gives him a concerned look but continues washing his plates, choosing to ignore the younger. Once all the dishes are finished, Doyoung dashes out of there and starts on his other chores to distract his mind from the mess he’s in. 

◈◈◈

The faster he gets this done, the less mistakes Doyoung will make. Usually he only explores small areas near his corridor, still not accustomed to the full layout of the castle, but tonight Doyoung goes further than he has before. He brings his duster with him, occasionally touching up the surfaces in the halls so he doesn’t look too suspicious. 

So far, Doyoung hasn’t found anything specific that could lead him to where the artifact is. It is known to be hidden somewhere in the castle, so at least he doesn’t have to search all over the kingdom. Not very smart of the Solar elves, at least try and have a bit more secrecy with your kingdom’s greatest treasure. 

As Doyoung slides his hands against the wall, feeling for any loose or offput stones that could reveal a hidden passageway, he stops by one of the lanterns. It’s identical to all the others in the castle, nothing about it sticks out, it is the same sun pattern made of gold lines twisting around one another. For some reason though, Doyoung has an idea and reaches up towards it, he wraps both hands around it’s edges and pulls down. It doesn’t budge.

“Of course you idiot,” Doyoung mumbles to himself. 

“What are you doing?” A voice questions from behind. 

Doyoung twitches and involuntarily exclaims, “Oh my stars!” When he turns to see who it is, he immediately backs into the wall and bows his head down. “Ah, I’m sorry Tae- Your high- Prince.” He sneaks his eyes back up to see Taeyong staring at the ground, a frown on his face. 

“Oh. You found out,” Taeyong barely speaks, then he gives a small sad laugh, “I guess it was only a matter of time.”

Swallowing, Doyoung meets the prince’s gaze. “Yes, and I’m sorry, I want to apologize for the way I carelessly-”

“Please…” Taeyong cuts him off, he sighs. “Please don’t apologize. I chose not to tell you about my status, I didn’t really want to after finding out you didn’t know. Nobody here ever treats me like that…”

Doyoung titls his head, “That’s why I’m sorry, because I treated you that way.”

The boy pushes back his light golden hair and chuckles, “No, don’t be sorry! It was actually nice, someone wasn’t speaking to me formally all the time and acting like they’re below me.” Taeyong plays with his hands a bit. “It was like I was normal,” he silently says, but Doyoung can hear. 

“You are normal.”

“Not to everyone else, and you say that but here you are, bowing and calling me ‘your highness.’” Doyoung bites back a small chuckle, hiding his smile. If only Taeyong knew what it was like to be a prince back in the Lunar Kingdom, well, a ‘prince’ like Doyoung. 

Taeyong suddenly grabs Doyoung by the shoulders and forces eye contact, the light from the lanterns illuminated in his face. “Doyoung, could you please go back to treating me like you did before, casual. Like a friend, not all proper and everything?”

He’s unable to think properly while being held like this, but he doesn’t want to shove the Solar Prince off of him, that would be rude. All Doyoung can do is repeat the Queen’s words in his head over and over again, trying to refuse the offer in front of him.  _ No pleasantries. No friendships. No pleasantries. No friendships.  _

Taeyong is looking so expectantly at him though with pleading eyes, Doyoung has to take a deep breath a look away in order to avoid his charms. 

“I don’t know…” He finally responds, the older shakes him a bit, gently, but it spikes Doyoung’s nerves, he brings up his hands and regrettably forces the arms around him off. Once he realizes his actions from his panic, Doyoung immediately bows his head. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to shove you away like that...”

“It’s okay,” Taeyong softly speaks, there is no hint of anger or annoyance in his voice but Doyoung still doesn’t relax. “How about this,” the prince offers, “Come to my tea party tomorrow.” Doyoung bites his lip, unsure still. A tea party is way off course from his mission and could potentially be hindering to it, not to mention if the king shows up there it’ll all be over. He can’t outright refuse the Solar Prince though... 

“Who will be there?” Doyoung looks up again at Taeyong who smiles brightly at him. 

“Don’t worry, no one too scary,” Taeyong winks at him which confuses every part of Doyoung, he stands still staring out at the older. “Show up at my private garden at two!” The older is already rushing away when he says those last words, a happy skip in his step. Doyoung exhales, groaning at himself and once again backing up against the wall. He knows he’ll be in big trouble if anyone back home finds out about this. It’s not about just breaking a rule, Doyoung is putting his mission in danger by fraternizing with the Solar Prince in the Solar Kingdom, in the Solar castle where the Solar Artifact that Doyoung is supposed to be stealing is located. This is the mission of his life, and if he isn’t more careful it will be the last in his life. 

Shaking his head at himself, Doyoung decides to halt his searching for the night and retreat back to his room. The time heading back is slow, his steps shuffling against the long hallway floors. He gazes down at the rug running along the ground until it’s light twisting patterns make him dizzy. When he lifts his head, Doyoung turns to stare at the large portraits hanging on the wall directly next to him. His eyelids flicker upon seeing the photos, perfectly painted to represent a cheery image of the King, Queen, and their two children.

First he glances over the youngest, a happy smiling blonde haired boy. How could he have not noticed before, Taeyong still looks the same as the toddler in the painting, just older and handsome now. His ears are longer now too, a bit short in the photo. Next to Taeyong, wrapping two arms around him is a girl with the same blonde colored hair but rounded ears. She looks several years older, but her smile matches that of the younger. 

Doyoung reluctantly moves his gaze up to the King, his expression is serious, but there’s a softness behind it as he holds Taeyong’s hand, the other being around the Queen. He looks exactly the same as Doyoung remembers, well at least as much as he can remember. His memory from childhood is still quite fuzzy and most of the memories he doesn’t want to remember.

Doyoung takes a deep breath. Taeyong is lucky to have a father like the Solar King, a dad who actually cares for his kid. The King even personally requested something for his son, it makes Doyoung a bit jealous because he’s never had that. Supposedly, as Gongmyung told Doyoung a few times, before he came along their dad was actually enthusiastic and cared for them. He was excited to father another son, until Doyoung’s mom died while giving birth to him. After that, the Lunar King remarried quite quickly and cast his first two sons aside, even more so when Jeno came along. The new Queen wasn’t particularly fond of Doyoung or Gongmyung either and only further pushed them away, declaring they wouldn’t be considered the next heirs and her son would be instead. Neither Doyoung nor Gongmyung blame Jeno though and they’ve always tried their best to protect him from the King and Queen’s short tempers.

It’s sad, but it’s been Doyoung’s life for the past 2,200 years. 

Sighing, he chuckles a little and pushes his black hair back. The laugh isn’t one of content though, it contains a sadness Doyoung doesn’t want to face. He continues on past the portraits, not wanting to stay stuck staring at something he’ll never have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry about this chapter being late! I had some stuff come up and got a bit side tracked, but I wanted to make sure and post it no later than one day after. I promise I will be sticking to my posting schedule and hopefully there will be no more delays. Thank you so much for reading! I can't express enough how truly grateful I feel knowing people are actually reading my work, I really hope you are enjoying it because that is my ultimate goal! See you Monday :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tea Party for Two :)

The next morning, Doyoung nervously paces in the kitchen, waiting for Johnny to appear. He showed up extra early to make sure that nothing goes wrong. All he needs to do is quickly request some time off today, having to attend Taeyong’s tea party. It’s not that Doyoung doubts Johnny will let him, he just wants to be ready incase there’s extra duties. 

A few of the cooks enter and start bringing ingredients out, giving weird looks to Doyoung but he continues to stay still in a corner. It feels like an eternity before Johnny walks through the door with Taeil and another servant tagging behind him. They’re all discussing something and pause in front of Johnny’s office door which Doyoung is currently standing next to. 

“All I’m saying is that it doesn't matter if the sorcerer destroys the pendant because the protagonist has shown that it’s power is the same as their own, making it useless” Johnny shrugs as he pulls some keys from his pocket. Doyoung has no clue what he’s talking about but he doesn’t want to interrupt as Taeil looks quite pressed about it. 

“No! It does matter, the pendant isn’t just about it’s power! It’s an important symbol to them that represents their connection to…” Taeil fades out as his eyes move past Johnny to see Doyoung patiently standing, pressed against the wall trying not to disturb anyone. Johnny turns his head to see and grins down at him. 

“Good morning Doyoung! How are you today?” Johnny asks. 

Doyoung tries to get straight to the point as Taeil crosses his arms, clearly annoyed at his conversation being paused. “Morning, um Johnny sorry to interrupt but I have something to ask of you, if that’s okay?” 

Johnny nods, “ Don’t worry, Taeil and I were just discussing a recent book we finished. Go ahead, but I think I already know? You’re going to ask for a few hours off today around two o'clock right?”

“H-how did you know?”

The taller elf smirks and winks down at Doyoung, “He came to tell me he’d invited you and practically begged for me to clear your schedule,” Johnny chuckles, “It was weird, never had the Prince beg to me before but he must really want you to show up.” Doyoung gives a small fake laugh.  _ Great, now more people know about Taeyong talking to me.  _

Behind his boss, Taeil’s eyes are widening and he steps forward a bit. “Wait, did the Prince seriously invite you to his tea party?”

“Yeah, I tried to decline…” Doyoung looks at the ground and shuffles his feet a bit, “But he was persistent for some reason, sorry about missing some work today.”

“Nothing to apologize for Doyoung,” Johnny tells him, inserting the key to his office and opening it. “You can have those few hours off, just try and get as much done as you can beforehand and after, anything left you can just do tomorrow or I’ll have Taeil do it.”

“Hey!” Taeil exclaims, his tiny body seeming to explode with rage. Johnny just laughs at him and shuts the door, leaving Doyoung out in the hallway with a vexed coworker. “Why would the Prince invite you?”

Doyoung shrugs, “I have no clue.”

“The Prince never lets anyone know who’s going to attend his tea parties, it’s strange that he’d go to Johnny himself and tell him.” Taeil cocks his head, his eyebrows raising at the younger. 

Doyoung just gives him a small smile, “Strange indeed. I’m going to get to work now.” He leaves Taeil standing there, still confused. At this point Doyoung has stopped trying to understand the strange Prince and all of his weird antics. He just hopes today doesn’t go too badly. 

◈◈◈

Quarter to two and Doyoung is rushing around trying to find that map on the wall from his first day. He’s been using it ever since he arrived to navigate his way around, the castle is way too big for Doyoung to memorize anything more than the servant hallways. If he goes too far in exploring right now, he fears he’ll become super lost and then end up bumping into the king. 

Doyoung can’t find the Prince’s private garden location on the map anywhere though, and he checks all the floors, not just the ground level plans. He groans, afraid of being late to the Solar Prince’s tea party. 

“Do you need help finding something?” A voice asks from Doyoung’s left. He veers his head over to face a lean boy with a cute petite face and shorter rounded ears. His nose is small and cute, and below it are pink blush lips.

Doyoung considers for a few seconds before responding, “Yes, actually. Do you know where the Prince’s garden is located?”

The boy raises an arched eyebrow, “Are you going to Prince Taeyong’s tea party?”

“Yeah, he asked me to come…” 

“Fun!” The boy smiles, his face lighting up and brown hair shaking a bit, “I’m Winwin, one of the guards in the castle, I can lead you to his garden, just follow me.” Winwin’s sudden energy reminds Doyoung of that of a puppy’s, but it’s endearing. He follows him down the hallway, briskly walking to keep up with the guard’s skipping movements. 

“Thank you, I’m Doyoung by the way. Just a servant in the castle, I’m new.”

“Nice to meet you Doyoung,” Winwin hums. He turns down a few hallways, waving to people on the way. A sword lies in a sheath on the puppy like boy’s waist, clamoring a bit against his belt. Doyoung wonders why he hadn’t noticed any of the guards around the castle before. 

“Hey, you said you’re a guard yes? How come I’ve never run into any around the castle besides at the entrance or near the doors to important rooms?”

“Oh,” Winwin answers as he opens the door to an outdoor bridge that crosses to another section of the castle, “Not a lot of guards are assigned inside the castle, at least not a lot near the servant’s sections. Mostly the positions are closer to the royal family’s quarters, the throne room, treasure rooms, weaponries, outside stations, positions near the borders of the kingdom, places like that. Occasionally I’ll be assigned to follow around someone for a day and be their protection instead of standing or monitoring a hall. I’ve actually done that a lot for the Prince.”

“I see.” Doyoung takes in the information, storing it for later when he finally finds the artifact’s location and has to escape with it. Winwin takes him down a long flight of stairs and then one more long hallway before opening a small door in a back corridor. 

“Here you go, there’s a path just outside here that leads into a sort of hedge maze. In the middle is where you’ll find the Prince’s garden.”

Doyoung nods to Winwin, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Winwin waves to him until the door shuts and Doyoung can no longer see him. Now alone, Doyoung takes a deep breath and shields his eyes as they adjust to the bright lights of the outdoors. 

He follows the path infront of him, a scattered line of round cut stones pressed into the lucious grass. A few times he turns to glance up at the towering castle behind him with it’s glittering details shining under the sun. It’s quite bright out though so he’s unable to stare for too long without it hurting. The sun glares in between the two towering spikes which frame it perfectly, a main feature of the castle. 

He reaches the hedge maze that Winwin described, it’s green walls a bit too tall for him to peer over. The entrance is wide enough for three people to fit side by side. 

Doyoung heads in, making sure to track the pathway carefully so he doesn’t get lost in the twists and turns of the maze. Eventually a clearing comes ahead to an area with set up chairs, a table, a fountain, and a swing. The grass ends and turns into small tan and white pebbles. Doyoung is so lost looking at the tiny rocks he doesn’t even look up to see everything set out and Taeyong patiently waiting for him to notice. When he does lift his head, Doyoung is surprised to see Taeyong alone seated at a table. A large layout of small sandwiches and sweets with two teapots covers the table he’s at. He bows his head and looks around for anyone else as Taeyong motions for him to come over. 

The table is short and Doyoung takes the chair on the other end, directly facing Taeyong who smiles brightly at him. His light blonde hair shines under the sun and his skin has a glow out here that Doyoung hadn’t noticed during their encounters at night. 

“I’m so glad you made it!” Taeyong happily exclaims. “I hope you didn’t have trouble finding this place. I sort of forgot it’s not on any of the maps.”

Doyoung shakes his head, “One of the guards was able to point me in the right direction.” The younger then hesitates and sits up even straighter, “Is anyone else coming?” Taeyong chuckles at his questions and Doyoung fears it was a stupid one. 

Taeyong waves his hand at a few seats next to him, “Everyone is already here.” Doyoung peers over and tilts his head, seated in the three other chairs are large stuffed animals carefully placed. One is a fluffy pink bunny, another a grey cute elephant, and the last is a cream colored dog with large eyes and a little tongue sticking out. 

“Really-” Doyoung covers his mouth, stopping himself from saying anything rude. He’s not trying to make fun of the Prince, he actually thinks it’s kind of cute, their presence is just a little confusing at first. 

Taeyong chuckles nervously, his laugh sounding like a thousand tiny quick breathes, “Sorry, they’re my only friends…” The Prince stares down at the ground, playing his napkin a bit and rubbing the back of his neck. “Actually that’s why I invited you today,” His eyes meet Doyoungs, “I know this is kind of direct and we haven’t even had any tea yet but… Can we be friends?”

Doyoung holds his breath as he stays stuck staring back into the large eyes of Taeyong which plead to him. That was quite a direct question, and not one Doyoung was anticipating. He thought he’d just come here, drink some tea, eat a few snacks, not speak up much and then never run into the Prince ever again. Looking back now on his previous thoughts, Doyoung realizes he should have been aware something more was going to come along with this meeting today.

_ No friendships.  _ He tries to remind himself. Why is Taeyong specifically choosing him? Besides being new in the castle, there’s nothing specifically special about Doyoung that would draw Taeyong’s attention. 

Then again, Doyoung’s never had a friend of his own either so maybe they were just drawn to one another because of that in some way. It still doesn’t make sense to him, but Taeyong’s simple question actually makes Doyoung think for once maybe he can have something. 

Instead of refusing, he answers vaguely, “Aren’t you friends with other people in the castle? I’m sure many of them are willing to be your friend.”

The blonde haired boy shakes his head, “Sure they talk to me, but it’s always formal. Even if I ask for them to treat me casually no one has ever done that. Except you, and when you did, that was the first time I felt like I might actually be able to comfortably talk to someone. As myself, and not as the Prince.” 

The younger takes in those words.

“I’ve actually… never been friends with anyone before,” Doyoung is shocked at his sudden confession, even though he’s the one who spoke the words. Usually his thoughts are always kept inside but now he just blurted it out. Across from him, Taeyong’s eyes widen. 

“Really? Well then this is perfect!”

“It is?”

“Yes!” Taeyong squeals, “We can be each other’s best friend, and since neither of us have done this before it’ll be easy because there’s no expectations. Well, except that you don’t address me formally or treat me like royalty.”

Doyoung takes a deep breath, he knows he’s purposely breaking a big rule right now but it doesn’t matter. He’s always shoved everyone away but for once he has a chance to actually have someone, have a friend that he can do whatever it is that friends do. Doyoung would be lying to himself if he wasn’t excited to take up Taeyong’s offer, but another part of him, the sensible side that reminds him of the mission, makes him hesitant. 

“So what do you say, do we have a deal?” Taeyong holds his hand out across the table, an expectant look on his face. Still taking a few seconds, Doyoung licks his lips quickly before taking the hand and shaking it. 

“Deal. But a few things, we shouldn’t let anyone know, and if we’re in front of other people I have to address you formally. If I don’t I might lose my job.”

Taeyong nods, “Understood, but why can’t anyone know?”

“Oh uh,” Doyoung gulps and tries to think of something other than the truth, “Well some people might not like the idea of the Prince hanging out with a servant… especially your parents.”

A small pout appears on the older’s face, “I don’t think they’d disapprove.”

“Please, just for now let’s keep it between us two.”

“Okay, as long as we’re friends I am happy,” the Prince grins widely which makes something inside Doyoung flutter a bit. Maybe he is more excited than he thought to finally have a friend, maybe there are benefits to friendship. Of course, Doyoung will need to be extra careful now, balancing out his mission, his job, and his new friendship. 

“Shall we eat some of these,” Doyoung motions to the plethora of sweets in front of them.

Taeyong claps, “Yeah! Oh you should try this one, it’s my favorite!” He hands the black haired boy a small strawberry tart and then a blueberry one as well. Doyoung takes a small bite, his eyes widening as soon as the true taste touches his tongue. Taeyong chuckles, “It’s good right! I really love sweet things.”

“I can tell,” Doyoung teases, his eyes glazing over all the cookies and desserts on the table. “You do eat healthy food too right?” 

“Of course, of course. Every now and then I’ll have some fruit,” Taeyong winks, grabbing a few of his own food items. Doyoung just shakes his head, a small smile growing slowly on his face. 

For the rest of the afternoon, they sit there eating and talking. When asked about his family, Doyoung recites the lies he told Johnny, but for all other questions he tells the truth. About his favorite color, what he prefers to do in his free time, what things he likes, etcetera. It’s interesting to learn about Taeyong too, see news sides of him like how he loves dancing and has a soft spot for all animals. Doyoung could tell before that Taeyong was caring, by the gentle way he handled the flowers, but he’s never met someone as benevolent as the boy in front of him. 

They laugh at small things, enjoying each other’s company while sipping tea. 

“Do you sing?” Taeyong suddenly asks. Doyoung waits until he’s swallowed his tea before answering. 

“I enjoy it, but I’m not very good. I’ve never practiced.”

Taeyong raises an eyebrow, “Your voice is sweet, I think it’d sound really good when singing.”

The younger shakes his head, “I’m not sure. I wasn’t allowed to sing out loud at home very often so, I guess I really don’t know how I sound.”

“Well then sing for me now!” Taeyong claps. Suddenly Doyoung feels a bit flushed and he turns his head away. 

“Maybe another time.”

“Why,” Taeong frowns, “Here, there are no restrictions. You can sing whenever you want, and no matter how you sound it won’t bother me.” Doyoung takes a deep breath, meeting the Prince’s gaze. He’s never been asked to sing, only demanded to stop. I guess he’s trying all kinds of new things today. 

Bracing himself, Doyoung closes his eyes and sings a few lyrics from the only lullaby he knows, making sure to keep every note smooth and on pitch. It feels so good, escaping from his throat under his control, as loud as he wants with no one to stop him. When he finishes, Taeyong is staring wide eyed with his mouth open. 

“Was it that bad?” Doyoung gives a fake laugh, but Taeyong doesn’t want to play, instead he leans forward. 

“Your voice is seriously amazing, why would anyone ever tell you to shut up?”

“It was good?”

“Doyoung,” Taeyong puts a hand on his heart and sincerely faces him, “I swear on my soul connected to the sun and my elven ancestors immortalized in the stars that your voice is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever heard.”

Doyoung is truly flattered, he rarely gets compliments ever so he has no clue how to respond. All he can manage is a small stuttered thank you before covering his blushing face. 

“Do you sing?” Doyoung asks the older. He shakes his head. 

“I love singing and it’s not that I can’t, but I’m definitely not as good as you. I really enjoy making songs or dancing more.”

“Since I sang for you, you’ll have to show me your dance moves sometime,” Doyoung notes. 

Taeyong grins, “Anytime.”

Their conversation continues on until the sun begins to slowly climb down, the tea has gone cold, and almost all the snacks are gone. They say goodbye to one another, Taeyong wants Doyoung to stay for a bit longer but he has work to do before the day ends and must leave. As he’s exiting the hedge maze, Doyoung feels a bubbling inside him that’s unfamiliar. It’s not one of nervousness like he’s used to it, it’s happier, joyful. He thinks it’s excitement, the closest thing he’s felt to it is when he’s flying so that must be it. 

All he did was make a friend, but that’s probably one of the first things Doyoung has always wanted to do that he finally accomplished. Without the Lunar King and Queen around to reprimand him, he can do whatever wants in his time here. As long as he still follows through with his mission. 

At least for now, Doyoung can have some fun. Taeyong as his friend is an innocent thing after all, there’s no negatives. 

Yet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See I updated on time today... :D
> 
> Hmm what a lovely little tea party they had. Did you enjoy it as well?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung's Chores are interrupted.

Having to catch up on his chores leftover from yesterday, Doyoung starts his day early again. He works quickly to complete them, luckily there were only a few extras he had to do and pretty soon he’s finished more than half of his for the day. Taking a quick break, Doyoung goes to grab a snack from the kitchen and some water. A few oatmeal bars are left out for the servants and he grabs one.

Johnny enters the kitchen with a worried expression on his face, he paces by the counter and Doyoung slowly approaches. He hesitates to interfere though, not knowing if it’s a good idea or not. Eventually Doyoung decides to ask. 

“Everything alright Johnny?” The taller turns to face the younger and widens his eyes. 

“Doyoung, thank the sun you’re here. Do you have a lot to do today?”

“I’ve finished most of my stuff, I only have the D hallways left to dust-”

“Great,” Johnny cuts him off, “You can skip that for today. Right now I need you to go clean the floors in the hallways by the study. I accidentally over scheduled everyone and forgot that there’s some scholarly guests coming soon and that section needs to be shined up by tomorrow. Can you please do that? I have a bunch of other things to cover and will barely have any time to find anyone else.”

He can tell by the tone, and his rambling, that Johnny’s really in trouble. “Of course, are the mop and water bucket already up there?”

Johnny exhales loudly, “Yes, thank you so much! I’ll owe you a ton for this. If I find Taeil I’ll send him up to help you.” 

“No problem, it’s up three floors and near the back area right?” Doyoung asks, already preparing to head over. 

“Yeah, and then take two left turns. Still not accustomed to the layout?”

Doyoung smiles, “I’ve only been to that part of the castle once.” He walks away, leaving the less freaking out now Johnny to do whatever it is he needs to. Following the instructions, Doyoung makes his way into the other side of the castle to where he believes the study to be. He passes by several doors leading into an enormous library, but they don’t seem like the place he needs to be. Walking down a long hall, he finally finds a door labelled “Private Study” with a bucket of water and a mop placed next to it. The door is shut tight but Doyoung is only here to clean the halls. 

Grabbing the mop, Doyoung gets to work, gently wetting it with water and a bit of soap, then scrubbing the floor till it shines. This area has less carpet, showcasing expensive wooden and marble floors. Makes it easier to clean, a blessing for the dark haired elf. 

About an hour after he starts, Taeil shows up lugging his own bucket and mop. He angrily places it down and sighs, getting the work done. 

“I’ve done these areas already,” Doyoung points to the spots where he’s already cleaned to let his coworker know.

“Okay,” Taeil grumbles. He seems especially grumpy today, Doyoung makes a note to keep quiet and not get on his nerves. They work in silence, with the occasional noises from the mop heavily hitting the floor. At some point though, Taeil pauses and cocks his head at the younger worker, oblivious.

“How was your ‘hangout’ with the Prince yesterday?” There’s a hint of disgust in his voice that Doyoung immediately picks up on. He slows his work and takes a few deep breaths, being careful with his answers. 

“It went well.”

Taeil scoffs, clearly annoyed by something. “Why would the Prince ever choose to hang out with someone like you? You’re the same as the rest of us, nothing special in particular. You must be doing something for him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I can assure you that the Prince choosing me for his tea party was completely random and I don’t think he’ll make a habit of it,” Doyoung responds, facing the older now, less picky with his words. 

“I see, you think you’re just lucky. You’re probably going to end up using the Prince, well here’s a warning, because I hate people who treat others like their own puppets,” Taeil grits his teeth as he speaks. Before Doyoung can respond the shorter stomps over and promptly kicks over his water bucket, soaking the younger’s lower half completely. 

As the water seeps into his socks the cold radiating against him shocks him into remembrance. An old memory, one only half forgotten. 

◈◈◈

_Doyoung let out a small yelp as he tripped over a root, dropping the water basin directly onto himself. The scalding water burned against his skin, but luckily it was cool enough to not leave any marks, just pain. His socks were already soaked inside his shoes._

_“Stupid child! Now you’ve gone and dropped the water for my massage! You’re completely useless!” The Queen screamed out from the throne where she was seated._

_Doyoung immediately got up and picked up the basin. “I’m sorry my Queen, I’ll go and fetch another load of water.”_

_“No need,” She waved her hand, already bored with the atmosphere, “Go and spend five hours in the moonlight chamber instead. That will teach you to be less clumsy.”_

_“I’m sorry, it was an accident,” Doyoung mistakenly talked back. After living for 1,500 years he should have known by then to never, ever respond to the Queen unless asked a question. All he needed was to do whatever she asked, or stay still and listen._

_“Getting feisty with me? That’s a mistake,” The Queen rose from her throne and stepped down the many stone stairs. She stopped in front of the young boy who bowed his head. Her nails clawed just below Doyoung’s chin as his head was lifted upwards. “You’re useless. If only your mother had died before having you, then both pieces of dirt would have been rid of.”_

_Everything inside Doyoung tensed up, his breath caught as his heart filled with fire. No one ever spoke about his mother, he knew the Queen hated her, even though they never met. They didn’t have the chance. Slandering his mother like this was unacceptable and it took every single cell inside Doyoung’s body to stop him from punching her square in the face. He already felt guilty for causing her death, his father, no, the King always reminded him it was his fault. He didn’t want to feel guilty for surviving this long._

_The Queen snickered and squeezed his cheeks, “Oh well, at least you can be used for chores. Enjoy your time in the moonlight chamber. When you’re back, I’ll have a list ready of more tasks. Guards.” She flicked her hands and two guards grabbed Doyoung’s arms, shoving him out of the room. He didn’t resist and simply held his head down. Once he made it to the moonlight chamber, Doyoung let the tears flow as he punched the stone wall, not caring about the blood dripping afterwards. He released everything for a few hours before calming down and basking in the moonlight, rejuvenating his energy._

_It was then that Doyoung built more walls around himself, and kept himself in check more often. He never spoke out again, and he never tripped either. He carefully calculated every step he made inside the castle. He wanted to survive._

_◈◈◈_

Back to the scene in front of him, Doyoung looks away from a snickering Taeil and closes his eyes. He takes deep breaths, they’re shaky but eventually they steady. 

He can still hear a laughing Taeil who has gone back to mopping in his area, but suddenly the laughing stops. Doyoung opens his eyes and bends down to pick up his water bucket, but across the way he sees Taeil bowing deeply. 

“My Prince, I’m so sorry for the mess my coworker here has created. He’ll be cleaning it up right away and receive a proper scolding-”

“No need,” The familiar sweet voice sounds behind Doyoung. He avoids turning around though, still bent down near the floor. “I’ll take care of this. You are dimissed from duty in this area.”

“Yes, Prince Taeyong,” Taeil bows again, giving one last look to Doyoung before scurrying away with his mop and bucket. Taeyong appears next to Doyoung, holding out his hand.

“Need some help?” He smiles down brightly, and the beauty of it is enough to calm Doyoung at least a little bit. Taeyong helps him up and fixes Doyoung’s clothing which was a little displaced after his fall to the ground. 

“It’s okay, I’ll clean this all up.”

“Nonsense,” Taeyong flicks his hands and rolls up the bottom of his pants, “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t help you?” To the younger’s surprise, Taeyong crouches down and grabs the mop, beginning to clean up the spilled water and ringing it into the bucket. It takes a few seconds before Doyoung processes and scrambles to help as well, grabbing some rags to pick up the water and squeezing it out. 

“Hey you really don’t-”

Taeyong shushes him and chuckles, “I want to. Now mop faster!” Without being able to stop him, Doyoung rolls his eyes at the Prince’s stubbornness. It takes a few minutes of them continuously mopping up the water and then squeezing it into the bucket for the floor to be dry again, once they finish Taeyong stands up and stretches out, unrolling his pants. 

“Thank you,” Doyoung says as he places the now full again bucket to the side. 

“No problem,” Taeyong winks at him, then traces his eyes up and down along the younger, “Your clothes are wet, come with me and you can change them out.”

Going with the Prince? To grab fresh clothes? He already somehow pissed off Taeil by just attending the tea party, if anyone saw him changing out his socks with Taeyong it could off put his whole mission. Doyoung shakes his head as he wrings out his socks and puts them back on, despite their soggy texture. He just has to endure it. 

“It’s okay, they’ll dry out naturally and I can exchange them tonight.”

Taeyong sighs but nods in understanding. Then, the two stand in a bit of awkward silence. Staring at the ground, Doyoung licks his lips several times, a nervous habit of his. 

“Doyoung, I’m… curious about something?”

“What is it?”

The older clears his throat, “I’m not sure if I saw things right, as I was only passing by… but it looked like Taeil knocked the basin over on purpose…”

Doyoung looks up into Taeyong’s eyes which are filled with concern. He doesn’t feel like lying more to him than he already has to, so he answers honestly. “Yes, but I don’t think it was too badly intended. Taeil just seemed a bit upset and confused because he knew I went to your tea party yesterday. He was kind of in a bad mood today too. Please don’t say anything to Taeil or blame him! He’s actually really sweet I just think… well I don’t know…”

“Why would someone be that upset over you hanging out with me?”

The younger shrugs, “No clue, but I assumed this would happen, so it’s really okay.”

“But it’s not okay! He-”

“Taeyong, I said it’s fine,” Doyoung states. He doesn’t want to cause any more trouble, or to bring anymore attention to himself than he already has. Taeyong looks upset that he was just silenced, probably never having had it happen to him before. It’s kind of funny to see his flustered face, a cute frown taking over.

“Is this why you wanted to keep our friendship a secret?”

“Exactly,” Doyoung smiles a bit. 

Taeyong sighs, “I understand. But I still won’t let Taeil get away with this. I’ll talk to Johnny and have him apologize.”

“Tae-”

“Ah ah ah,” Taeyong silences him with the waving of his hands, “It’s not wise to try and stop the Prince.” The Solar Prince smirks. 

“Oh, so now you want me to treat you like a Prince?” Doyoung develops an evil grin and suddenly Taeyong’s eyes widen. He begins to do a deep bow to the Prince who immediately starts freaking out. 

“No please Doyoung! Ah! Stop bowing, it's embarrassing!”

Doyoung is cackling as Taeyong’s face flushes a pink color in embarrassment. “Careful with your words Prince Taeyong, two can play at that game.”

“I’m just trying to be a good friend,” Taeyong crosses his arms. Doyoung scoffs, but does it while smiling. He places the mop back where the bucket is and gently folds some of the rags as well. Taeyong is still behind him when he turns back. “What else do you have to do today?”

“Why, you want to help me with my other chores too?” Doyoung is just joking around but Taeyong answers sincerely. 

“Yes.”

He pauses to blink at the older before answering, “Well too bad, I don’t have anymore to do today.” Doyoung sticks out his tongue.

“Great! That means we can hang out all day then!”

“Hey wait that’s not- I didn’t mean- You can’t-” Doyoung fumbles over his words, not used to this amount of excitement from someone. Specifically, he’s never experienced anyone this excited to be around him. “What would we even do?” He finally formulates the question. Taeyong shrugs. 

“Anything you want.”

Doyoung thinks. He usually uses all of his free time to explore the castle and search for the artifact, the quicker he finds it the quicker this can be over. One day spent with Taeyong though, maybe won’t be too distracting. 

Taeyong chuckles, “Really can’t think of anything?” The younger snaps from his thoughts, unaware of his blank staring face. “How about this, since you seem to still get lost a lot, I’ll give you a tour of the castle!”

“Actually,” Doyoung tilts his head, “That sounds perfect.” He smiles gently. It is perfect, Doyoung can see the entire castle and still spend the day with Taeyong. “Except, I don’t get that lost…”

“Hm really? Because I recall someone almost falling out of two windows and then having to ask his savior to show him the way back.” Taeyong smirks, and Doyoung narrows his eyes.

“Don’t even, that was my first day, of course I was going to get lost.”

“If you say so.”

“Hey-”

“Come on slowpoke,” Taeyong cuts him off by winking while walking away, “If you get too far behind you might not be able to find me again. Then how would you get back?” 

Doyoung ups his pace to catch up, scoffing while he does so. “This place is so big I bet you even get lost sometimes.” Taeyong just laughs, leading him down several hallways before “officially” starting the tour. 

He begins on the right side of the castle, where the servants branch is, but he doesn’t show Doyoung around those parts because he’s already been all over there in his first weeks working here. They slowly make their way across the enormous Solar castle, Taeyong detailing out what certain studies are used for, the various training rooms and display hallways. They even cross through the courtyard, but only briefly as a squadron of guards are out training and Doyoung doesn’t want to be seen. Once they make it towards the middle areas, Taeyong happily skips to a room and stops. He turns and smirks towards Doyoung, crossing his arms in pride. 

“Why do you look so smug?”

Taeyong ignores his teasing. “Guess what this room is?” Doyoung looks past him at the large golden door, it’s obviously an important room but honestly it could be anything. A treasure storage, library, bedroom, possibly even the throne room. Although the throne room isn’t likely to be this far back in the castle. 

“A bedroom?”

“Correct!” The Prince snaps his fingers. “Guess whose.”

Doyoung sighs, “It’s yours isn’t it.”

“Correct again,” Taeyong says. He doesn’t make any move to open the doors though, simply continues standing in front of it. 

“Are you going to show me the inside or just the door?”

Taeyong flushes a bit to Doyoung’s surprise and averts his eyes, “Well… no, it’s not very… it’s not very tidy right now.” 

Doyoung bursts out laughing, unbelieving that the Solar Prince actually has a messy room. “Wow your highness, afraid to show your new friend your true attributes? I’m surprised, don’t you have servants for that anyways.”

“They- They aren’t allowed in there...Let’s just… Let’s just continue the tour okay.” Taeyong buries his face in his hands and walks away from the golden doors, grabbing a cackling Doyoung and pulling him along. 

The rest of the time, Doyoung kind of forgets to keep the mission on his mind. Taeyong’s eyes sparkle as he explains the history in certain sections of the castle and details stories of corners he would spend his time in as a child. There’s something about the way he speaks that intrigues Doyoung and makes him want to listen to his voice all day. Eventually, they make their way past the left side of the castle and towards the front where the throne room, dining halls, and ballroom are. Doyoung decides it’s best to skip the throne room in case the King is there, so he convinces Taeyong to take him straight to the ballroom. There isn’t much persuasion that needs to be done, as Taeyong seems to have a large love for the ballroom.

“Here we are!” The older pushes open large doors, they lead into a grand room with white marble dancing floors and golden columns that extend up to an open second floor. Golden sparkling designs paint across the floor, to the side there’s also a large staircase leading up to where the King and Queen perch during balls. Taeyong skips to the middle and does several twirls while Doyoung admires the space. The Lunar Kingdom has never used their ballroom, not since Doyoung’s mom died, so being in one is a new experience. 

“This is-”

“Amazing?” Taeyong completes his sentence and takes his wrist once more. “Come on, I promised to show you some of my dance moves.” He leads the younger into the open floor and releases his wrist, stepping forward a bit to leave room for him to watch. Taeyong snaps his fingers and light music begins to play around them. He begins to sway to it, feeling the beat for a few seconds before beginning his show of twirls and steps. Each one is enticing and draws Doyoung further in, he can’t peel his eyes away from the dancer who so perfectly voices the song through his motions. 

Taeyong spins around Doyoung, winking again as he goes. Doyoung rolls his eyes at the gesture, Taeyong clearly has a problem with winking too much. Ending with one last move, the music stops and Taeyong’s breathing is all that can be heard. Doyoung immediately claps, releasing a breath he was holding in awe. 

“Did you like it?” Taeyong asks, his eyes wide again as they peer up at Doyoung. He smiles down at him.

“You’re breathtaking,” Doyoung sincerely says. “You’re dancing I mean,” he quickly adds while clearing his throat. Taeyong grins back at him, his breaths still a bit labored.

“Thank you, do you want to try?”

“No,” Doyoung shakes his head, “I’m not a dancer, more of a ballroom dancer, and we still have more of the castle to see anyways.”

Taeyong sighs, “I suppose. Although I’m sure there’ll be many balls in the future that you can attend.” Doyoung only smiles. As much as he’d love to attend a ball, he’ll probably finish his mission before they hold one. Then never return. Speaking of the mission, he needs to pay more attention to the possible hiding places instead of Taeyong.

Their tour continues and finally leads back to the servants quarters, where bustling workers are rushing around to prepare dinner and demands from the King. They stop a few halls away, where the two aren’t in plain view of the others. 

“Can’t we hang out for the rest of the day?” Taeyong pouts. 

“I have a job, and I’m sure you do too,” Doyoung points out. Not being able to deny that fact, Taeyong’s frown increases as he has to bid his friend farewell for the day. 

“Doyoung, Let’s hang out again soon!” The Prince shouts down the hall. Doyoung raises his hand in parting and doesn’t look back as he turns into the servants section of the castle. 

Today was a good day after all.

◈◈◈

A Concept Drawing of the Solar Castle:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate on Taeil...
> 
> Anyways how was today's chapter? Maybe a little boring, sorry about a that :((


	7. Chapter 7

It’s not that Doyoung is looking for Taeyong per say, he was just a bit worried after having not seen his friend for three full weeks already. That’s not a long while relative to Elves perception of time, but it was still three weeks of Doyoung doing his job with no one to talk to. Taeyong had promised to hang out soon, but now Doyoung worries he mistook the meaning of soon. Of course Taeyong is going to be busy, he’s a literal Prince. Even Doyoung being a not-quite-Prince back in the Lunar Kingdom still had a ton of duties to do besides chores. There were events to organize, letters to be sent, relations to be checked, and school lessons to be learned. 

His father may hate him but he doesn’t hate his dead mother, who’s last wishes were for her sons to be taught how to be Princes. At least the Lunar King kept that promise. 

“Whatever, it’s not like I’m going to find him around here,” Doyoung says to himself. He’s hastily dusting some hallways not too far from where Taeyong’s sleeping quarters are. There’s probably zero chance of running into Taeyong, so Doyoung shrugs it off and begins to head back to the servants area. He’s already finished his entire schedule for the day, it’s a Sun-Day, meaning the weather is extremely hot and bright, but he also is assigned less on these days. Doyoung’s not quite sure how anyone could live in this extreme heat all their life. Back in the Lunar Kingdom it’s cooler most days, with a bit of chill in the light breeze. Never too hot, and never too cold, except for the nights when there’s a New Moon. 

As he makes his way through the halls, Doyoung passes the library with it’s doors wide open. It seems to be a lot busier today, probably from the amount of people that have off on Sun-Days. He stops a little ways away from it’s entrance as a boy walks out lifting a large pile of books and scripts. The light-pink haired elf seems to be struggling to hold up the weight, taking slow steps with bent knees. Doyoung immediately goes to help him. 

“Do you need some help?” He asks first, before lifting off the top half of the pile. The elf eagerly nods, staring up at him with thankful eyes. The books are a bit heftier than Doyoung anticipated but it’s nothing he can’t handle, he only wonders how this guy was planning on taking all these by himself. 

“Thank you! Honestly I probably would have dropped all of this,” the pink haired elf nervously laughs a bit. 

Doyoung nods his head, “No problem, should I help carry them to where you’re going?”

“Yes please! I’m Renjun by the way, a library page in the castle, in case you couldn’t tell from the pile of documents. I have to drop these off at the private study.” Renjun smiles happily, sighing in relief he won’t have to do it alone. 

This time Doyoung doesn’t hesitate to introduce himself. At this point he’s figured out it’s almost inevitable to not make pleasantries with others, if he tried to ignore people it’d seem suspicious. “I’m Doyoung, a new servant in the castle.”

Renjun begins to lead the way to the private study, walking beside the older. “How are you enjoying it here? Have you gotten to see the entire castle yet?”

“It’s nice, a lot warmer than I’m used to though,” Doyoung says, “I actually have been all around the castle a… friend of mine gave me a tour. Although it’s really big so I still get lost alot.”

“That’s bound to happen, it took me about two years to get this place’s layout down. I still don’t even know what’s up in the two spikes.”

Doyoung tilts his head, he hasn’t been there either. Taeyong skipped that part of the castle, maybe because you have to pass through the throne room to get there or go through the courtyard. Though, maybe there’s another reason they didn’t go there. “What do you think is up there?”

Renjun shrugs, he points his head to a corner and the two turn down it. “No clue, I assume it’s probably extra rooms, more private studies, paintings of past leaders, and some sunlight chambers. Other than that, it’s probably boring. The shape isn’t exactly the best for a real floor plan, so the higher you go the less there is. It was built more so the two spikes could frame the sun’s location, which shines down onto the kingdom. It’s actually pretty cool to see!”

“Interesting…” Doyoung begins to think. It’s possible the artifact is somewhere up there. He’s been looking more on the ground level, similar places to where the Lunar artifact is kept in the Lunar Kingdom. Doyoung realizes he’s overlooked the fact that the Solar Kingdom is completely different from his own, of course it will be somewhere unpredictable to him. 

“We’re here,” Renjun states, stopping in front of a door Doyoung feels like he’s seen before. Actually the whole hallway is familiar, and looking down at the floor refreshes his memory of being here a few weeks ago mopping it. “Thank you so much for your help.” Renjun bows a little in respect as he takes the books from Doyoung’s clutch. 

“Do you need help carrying them inside?”

The boy shakes his head, “No, I’m not allowed to let anyone else inside besides me. Many well renowned scholars have been visiting the past weeks so they want as little interruptions as possible. Plus this is the Prince’s private study so the rules are stricter as well.”

Doyoung’s eyes widen. “The Prince? Why are the scholars in his study?”

“Ah, I guess you wouldn’t know being new and all. During this time of year the Prince is required to take classes and learn from these visiting scholars,” Renjun explains. He picks up the last book and begins to open the door, with Doyoung helping. 

“I see, so that’s why Tae- The Prince hasn’t been seen around the castle much.”

Renjun nods. “Correct, and we probably won’t see him for a while. Thanks so much for your help again Doyoung! I have to get going now, see you!” The pink haired elf waves with his fingers as best he can from under the pile and enters the study, the door closing behind him. Doyoung tries to get a peek inside as the door shuts, but not much can be seen except endless rows of books and scripts covering the ground. 

At least he now has an explanation as to why Taeyong didn’t come for him. He’s not obligated to anyways, Taeyong has a lot of work to do and so does Doyoung. Doyoung doesn’t get lonely, but he can’t not admit that talking to someone again, even if it was someone he’s just met like Renjun, is pretty nice every once and awhile. Back at home, Haechan would talk his ear off for hours. 

Renjun actually kind of reminds Doyoung of Haechan. He’s not sure what it is but he feels they’d probably be close friends, or exactly the opposite. 

◈◈◈

During lunch, Doyoung sits alone at a table, slowly eating a sandwich he grabbed from the kitchen. He’s studying a small sketch he made of the castle and it’s layout. It’s not perfect, but he did his best to copy the large one in the hallway, and crossed out certain areas he knows the artifact is not. He licks his lips as he draws the two castle spikes on the side, circling them with a question mark. 

Someone plops down in the chair across from him, Doyoung doesn’t lift his head to see until the person clears their throat. When he finally looks up, he’s met with Taeil, eyes shaking as he stares down at Doyoung. Doyoung takes a deep breath, stilling his own shaking hands as he covers the papers with them. 

“Hey um…” Taeil also breathes deeply, “I’m sorry. Really sorry, for what I did the other week. I was a bit stressed back then, which is no excuse for my behavior…”

“It’s okay,” Doyoung tells him, stuffing the papers away, “I harbor no bad feelings. If Johnny’s making you come here and apologize then-”

“No, he’s not. I needed to apologize, no one is forcing me. It wasn’t cool of me to act like that even if I was angry for other reasons. I kind of took it out on you, and I’m really sorry. You’re not a nobody, you’re actually one of the most hardworking staff here and you’re super polite too.”

Doyoung gives a little laugh, it relieves Taeil’s worried expression a bit. “It’s all good. Thanks for apologizing.” This is kind of new for Doyoung, he’s never received an apology from anyone before. At least not this sincere, there were small ones when Haechan or Jaehyun accidentally knocked over something of his but other than that, he’s taken it every time someone pushed him around. Usually it’s the King or Queen. Okay, it’s only really been the King or Queen. 

“Thank the sun! I’m so glad we’re cool now. Doing jobs with you is actually pretty fun, even if you don’t talk a lot, I’m pretty quiet myself. Unless Johnny and I are talking about books or something.”

“I see,” Doyoung smiles. “How is Johnny, the past few times I’ve seen him this week he’s been pacing around and yelling at everyone?”

“Ah,” Taeil sighs, “He’s been pretty stressed since the scholars arrived, that’s actually what I had been upset about earlier this week. Johnny has to manage a lot right now, constantly checking to make sure everything is perfect for them, he gives me the role of second in demand but before they arrived a lot of our teams hadn’t finished what they needed to. We were both pretty mad, and luckily, with your help actually, we got it all done. Johnny still has a lot to do though, I know he’ll be stressed until they leave.”

“Wow, these scholars are really important?”

“Yeah, they’ve come from a lot of neighboring elven kingdoms or within the Solar Kingdom, and they’re all masters in their trade. Most of the scholars even get to stay in the master bedrooms,” Taeil explains. Doyoung tilts his head, he’s never heard of these “master bedrooms.” Taeil understands and already has an answer. “Oh the master bedrooms are the ones in the two spikes, special rooms saved for important guests.”

“So that’s what’s up there.”

“Yeah, it’s basically a bunch of those rooms and a few extra storage spaces I’m pretty sure.”

“Interesting…” It feels like a dead end now, but Doyoung wants to keep the possibility of the artifact being up there in the back of his mind. It’s not completely out of the question. 

Taeil asks a question now, “Didn’t you say your parents are scholars Doyoung? Haven’t they heard of this event?”

Doyoung gives a small fake laugh, “My parents are pretty secluded, I’m not sure they would know about it.” Taeil shrugs, but leaves the topic alone. The older taps his fingers on the table for a bit while the servants grabbing their lunches rush around them. 

“To make it up to you for yesterday how about I do your chores for the rest of the week?”

“What?” Doyoung looks over at him. “That’s not necessary, really-”

Taeil shakes his head, “If not this week, then whenever you need a break just tell me, and I’ll cover that day for you. It’s the least I can do.” 

“I don’t know… Thank you but I don’t think that will ever happen.”

Taeil chuckles a little, “Trust me, everyone needs a break sometimes. Speaking of which, I have to go into town to collect some supplies, if you’re free for the rest of the day you’re welcome to come.”

Doyoung tilts his head, why is Taeil being so nice right now? I mean, he’s usually like this but Doyoung isn’t used to it being directed towards him. From anyone. “I don’t know my way around town.”

“You just have to follow me, I can show you around too. I’m assuming you haven’t been to the city much yet?”

Doyoung shakes his head and Taeil nods, smiling. “Great, let's leave in twenty minutes okay!”

“Uh-” Before Doyoung can finish that thought though, Taeil shoots up and waves, leaving the table. 

◈◈◈

Doyoung waits by the exit until Taeil shows up again, now with a satchel slung over his shoulder and two baskets in his hands. He hands one to Doyoung and then motions to the door. 

“Let’s head out now, I let Johnny know you were accompanying me today.”

“Was he okay with it?” Doyoung asks as the door is already being opened. 

“Of course,” Taeil looks back at him and grins, “Johnny will let me do anything. We’ve been working together for a long time.” The sun temporarily blinds Doyoung and he winces as the bright light hits his eyes. Taeil seems to have no aversion to it though. 

“So you two are good friends?” 

Taeil nods, “Yeah, best friends pretty much.” They head down the pathway, Taeil skips a bit and swings his empty basket happily. The path leading out from the castle dips into a part of the forest, which Doyoung can recognize from his occasional outside visits. Not too far away he can see the rest of the Kingdom, it’s not far from the castle, and is pretty much right next to it. The journey there from the servant’s exit takes a little bit of time though. It’s at least a nice day, again still a bit too hot for Doyoung but he’s slowly adjusting. 

Once they arrive closer to the town, clamering noises of bustling citizens can be heard. When they enter, Taeil nods to Doyoung to reassure him to stay close. Doyoung does so, with all the crossing people heading in every direction, it’s a bit overwhelming. He sticks by Taeil’s side as they dodge through the crowds of laughing gossipers, running children, and yelling stall sellers. There’s so much going on at once, with every street being busy no matter if there is a market nearby or not. 

The houses here have similar structure to the ones back at home, yet their designs and placings are quite different. Every building is packed more closely together, and open windows to shops give previews to the seated customers inside, smoke flowing out. Although it’s day, Doyoung can tell there are fewer street lights placed around the streets. Roads and walkways aren’t stone, they’re hay and pebbles. The terrain, besides gradually going downhill is not jagged and similar to steps as the Lunar Kingdom is like. Of course, Doyoung has seen all this from up in the castle but being in the midst of it is both a wonder and a hectic experience. 

“Come on, in here,” Taeil shouts to Doyoung. He grabs his sleeve gently and pulls the younger from the middle of the street and leads him to the side, then pushes him down a narrower pathway, some of the calamity being left behind them. “It’s this one.” Taeil points to a shop, with a small sign hanging down. There’s a flower design along with a honeycomb and some vegetables. Before he can read any other signs, Doyoung is shuffled through the door, a tiny bell ringing as the customers enter. As soon as the door is closed behind him, most of the noise from the streets disappear, leaving a quiet shop in front of Doyoung. 

There’s a fresh smell in the air, and he swivels his head around to observe. Directly in front are a few shelves containing foods with their prices neatly marked on papers next to them. The right leads into an area filled with flowers and hanging plants from the ceiling, while to the left is a checkout area and more shelves of foods and goods. A man with brown and blonde bleached hair behind the counter looks up and waves. 

“Taeil! It’s been weeks, where were you?” The guy asks him, Taeil saunters over motioning for Doyoung to follow. He complies. 

Taeil places one of the baskets on the counter and pulls out a list. “Sorry, I was busy taking care of things for guests in the palace.”

“Hmm sure,” he says, “But all the others Johnny sends are so boring, no humor. They grab the stuff and leave.” As the elf across the counter scans the piece of paper with his eyes, Taeil turns to Doyoung quickly and smiles. 

“Doyoung, this is Ten. He runs the shop here, along with two others. This is where we get a lot of the fresh ingredients and foods for the kitchen, as well as the flowers.” 

Ten looks up and nods to Doyoung, Doyoung nods back and the greeting is completed. Then, the shopkeeper looks back and to the side, yelling out, “Yangyang! Get out here and help me with this order!”

“Can’t you do it?” A voice grumbles back, Doyoung assumes it comes from the one named Yangyang. 

“No,” Ten yells again, “It’s a castle order, now get your butt over here.” A figure sighs in the back and comes out. He’s an elf with short stubby ears, contrasting to Ten’s long ones, and his hair is brown with messy strands sticking out in many directions. He looks to be young, Doyoung guesses around 1,900 years. Yangyang grabs the list from Ten and groans, then walks past the counter and begins to pick some items off the shelves, beckoning for Taeil to come over with the basket. 

As Taeil steps towards the boy, he pauses quickly to stop Doyoung from following and takes his basket. “Yangyang and I can gather all the food, just help me carry it back. I suggest you explore the store a bit and pick some flowers for Johnny, to help him destress.” The older hurries away to the grumpy boy by the shelves and Doyoung stays put. He pivots but freezes, not quite sure what to do now, even though Taeil had just told him. 

“The flowers are that way,” Ten helps him out by pointing behind him, “And over that way are where the breads are, the vegetables over there, drinks there, and jams can be found near the back.” Ten points out where each food item is. 

“Thank you,” Doyoung says, then he tilts his head, “No fruits?”

Ten smiles, “Nope. We don’t sell that here.”

“Interesting…” The Lunar elf thinks, maybe it’s a thing to not sell fruits in produce stores here? He’s sure he’d seen fruit carts in the market when he passed, so maybe it’s just this store?

“Are you new here?”

Doyoung looks up, snapping from his thoughts, “Ah, yes. Well, I’ve been here for a little while now, working in the castle, but I haven’t been to the rest of the kingdom much.”

“There’s lots to see here,” Ten tells him while shuffling around a few items on a nearby shelf. “Doyoung right?” Doyoung nods. “I hope Taeil hasn’t given you a hard time in the castle.”

He knows Ten is saying it sarcastically but Doyoung smiles thinking back to the incident from the other week. He shakes his head, “Only a little.”

Ten laughs at that, “Only a little? You don’t have to lie, I know how he is when he gets stressed.” Doyoung shrugs, then quickly glances back to where the flowers are, a boy he didn’t notice earlier is now over there, checking on some of the plants. He has brown-black hair and an apron on. His hands gently reach out to one of the flowers and snip some dead leaves off with a tiny pair of scissors. 

“Who’s that taking care of the flowers?” Doyoung asks. Ten doesn’t even turn to answer.

“Oh, that’s Mark, he’s our florist. You’re going to get some flowers for Johnny right? I suggest sunflowers, he really likes those.”

“Thanks.” Leaving the shopkeeper behind to do his work, Doyoung slowly makes his way over to the flower section. He’s never seen a produce shop sell both foods and flowers, in the Lunar city there's separate shops for that. Not that Doyoung was ever able to go to them for more than two minutes to buy something for the King or Queen. 

The flowers here are beautiful, coming in all different bright colors and shapes. He’s never seen anything like this before, even the shining little leaves are breathtaking as they reach up for the sun happily. Doyoung looks over them and reaches down to touch one, an ovular petals shaped purple flower that catches his eye. Its beauty is in its intense purple that fades to a softer pastel at the inner part. 

“Iris.”

Doyoung snaps his head up, removing his hand from caressing the flower. He forgot there was someone else here, and now he faces the elf named Mark. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Mark immediately apologizes but Doyoung shakes his head. 

“No, I’m sorry. By the way what did you say?”

Mark tilts his head then takes a few seconds before remembering, “Oh! I said iris, that’s the flower you were admiring. I get why, they’re really pretty.” The florist comes over and crouches down next to the flower. “They’re a symbol of royalty and faith.” Doyoung doesn’t quite know what he means by that, but he needs to get the flowers Taeil ordered so he clears his throat. Mark stands, he’s quite a bit shorter than Doyoung and seems to be around the same age as Yangyang, maybe a year or two older. 

“I need some flowers.”

“Right, what kind?” Mark motions to all the options. 

“Give me whatever I guess?” Doyoung shrugs. He’s honestly never done this before, dealing with flowers and such. Seeing this many before is a new experience. 

Mark smiles, “Well it has to be special, is there a specific meaning you want?”

“Well it’s for my boss… wait what do you mean by meaning?” 

“Each flower symbolizes something, and those meanings can be used to give across a message in each bouquet.” 

Doyoung raises his eyebrows at Mark, having never heard this before in his life.

Mark laughs a little, “I can explain, for example,” he picks up a nearby orangish and pink flower that has squiggly edges, “carnations stand for remembrance.” He puts the flower back and reaches for another, a small white one which Doyoung knows to be an orchid at least. “Orchids last longer than most flowers, so they’re often used in apologetic bouquets to represent a person's enduring guilt and regret. White orchids specifically are considered to symbolize sincerity as well.”

The older elf stares down at the little flower, wondering how such a small object could hold so much value. “What do other flowers mean?”

“Hm, some of my favorites are daffodils, they symbolize new beginnings and rebirth, as well as sympathy, desire, and returned affection. Then there’s Hyacinths which are associated with peace and truth, I think those ones are really pretty.” Mark swivels his head around and reaches over, putting away the flowers in his hand and picking out a tall twisting purple one. 

“This is a hyacinth?” Doyoung marvels at the complicated plant, it’s design enticing his eyes. 

The florist looks at him, “You’ve never seen a hyacinth before?” Shaking his head, Doyoung hands it back to Mark. 

“Let’s just say I had a sheltered childhood.” Mark nods, not questioning more on the matter and once again reaching for a different flower. This time, the plant is a bundle of tiny petals together forming a small dome. There’s four different colors of this kind, pink, blue, white, and purple. 

“These are hydrangeas, the Queen likes them a lot. To me they’re meaning is one of the most interesting because it changes drastically with each color.” He picks up a pink and purple cluster first. “Overall, they symbolize emotion and understanding, but pink hydrangeas are associated with heartfelt emotions. Similarly, the purple ones represent a desire to deeper understand someone.” Mark puts the two back and then grabs the blue and white hydrangeas. “These colors are a little different, blue hydrangeas symbolize frigidity in emotions but also apology. White ones stand for boasting and bragging.”

Taking in this information, Doyoung stares at the little plants, still no clue on which ones to get.

Mark chuckles a bit, “Don’t worry, I can tell your new at this so I can take care of most of it. Do you know what kind of flowers the person likes?”

Doyoung exhales, relieved he doesn’t have to be overwhelmed by this. He was ready to do it all though, that’s usually what he’d have to do back at home. “Yes, it’s for my boss, Johnny and I think Ten knows him so he suggested-”

“Sunflowers.” Mark completes his sentence, already getting a bouquet ready. “Johnny and Taeil are good friends of ours so I know exactly what to use, you can stand there and watch if you want.” Doyoung nods and steps back a bit, letting the florist have more room to work. He watches, intrigued, as the elf hums while going back and forth grabbing different flowers and leaves, sticking them together, and then putting back the ones that don’t match. Once he has a nice bundle, Mark goes behind the counter and begins to snip the stems one by one, cutting off all the leaves as well. He wraps them together then, rearranging the various colors once more, and slips the bouquet into a little bag. 

When Mark is done, he comes over and hands it to Doyoung, who stares down at the beautiful creation. The sunflowers seem to be the centerpiece of the arrangement, with complimenting white and purple flowers around them. There’s a couple pieces of greenery sticking up too which creates a nice shape and variation in the bouquet. While Doyoung doesn’t know much about flowers or even the names of everything in this, he can tell it’s a masterfully made orchestration. 

“Thank you.”

“No problem,” Mark beams, his eyes shining, “Say hi to Johnny for me, and make sure to say hi to him for Ten as well.” The shorter elf then slants his mouth and whispers to Doyoung, “He’s  _ always _ talking about Johnny, all day, everyday, so mention he should visit, then maybe Yangyang and I can have at least one or two peaceful days in the shop.” Doyoung opens his mouth but closes it and nods. On the inside, he’s laughing right now but all he lets show outside is a small smile. 

Doyoung leaves the flower section and walks through a couple aisles and shelves of food holding the fresh bouquet in his arms. When he sees Taeil and Yangyang still filing items into the now full baskets, he briskly heads over to them. 

“Good, you got the flowers, thanks Doyoung!” Taeil exclaims, seeing him walk over. 

Yangyang pouts next to him, “Can your coworker carry this now, it’s heavy.” The oldest rolls his eyes but nods and looks over to Doyoung with sorry eyes. Doyoung nods, letting Taeil know it’s okay and takes the basket from Yangyang, it’s weight is no joke. It’s his job though, so he doesn’t complain, he’s been forced to carry worse before. 

After the few items are placed in their baskets, Taeil and Doyoung lug them over to the counter where Ten is waiting while reading a book. 

“The usual price, I calculated it while you were shopping,” Ten says. Taeil pulls out a bag full of coins from his satchel and counts through them, placing a few stacks on the table. Ten hums and takes it, writing something down and handing it to him, Taeil stuffs it in his bag. Yangyang walks behind Ten and leans on the counter, looking over at the two workers. 

“Make sure to be the ones who come next time, I’m tired of hearing Ten complain about how boring everyone else is all the time.” Yangyang yawns and Ten gives him a threatening look.

Ten turns to them, “Don’t listen to him, he’s just a kid. Seriously though, I better see you two walking through that door next time or I’ll fight Johnny if he sends one more incompetent-”

“Don’t worry Ten, I’ll make sure it’s us, and if not, I’ll send Johnny here himself.” Taeil winks at Ten who furrows his brows and turns his head away. 

“Whatever, leave now, I’ve had enough of you.” With his arms crossed Ten shoos them away, Yangyang snickers behind him. 

“Doyoung,” Yangyang speaks to him, “Hold him to that promise okay?” Doyoung nods and Yangyang smiles brightly. “Good. You gotta come back too, you’re pretty interesting.” Someone walks over from behind them. 

“I agree, I’ve never seen someone with ears as pointed as yours, that’s a compliment by the way,” Mark explains, now next to him. He’s heard that before, and so Doyoung already knows it’s apparently a compliment here. “I only know one other elf who has them, but other than that, especially in the Solar Kingdom it’s really rare.” 

Suddenly, Doyoung becomes nervous his ears are giving him away for being an outsider. He tries to cover his dipping confidence with a small laugh. “Is that so? I guess you’re right, I haven’t seen many others with pointed ears like me…”

“Wait, who do you know with pointed ears Mark?” Ten asks while raising an eyebrow. The younger suddenly goes wide eyed and his cheeks turn a little pink.

“N-no one,” he stutters a bit, “Just a guy. That I know. That you don’t.” 

Taeil narrows his eyes, “Well as suspicious as Mark is being right now, Doyoung and I have to get this order back to the castle, so have a fun time interrogating him for us.” 

Waving a quick goodbye to each other, Taeil pushes Doyoung out of the shop and ignores Yangyang begging him to stay a little longer. Once outside back in the streets, the older sighs. 

“I swear, I’d end up talking with them for hours if I didn’t have this job. Come on, let’s go.” 

The two don’t speak much on the way back to the castle, which leaves Doyoung plenty of time to observe the layout of the kingdom and it’s many intricate pathways. 

  
He’s still a bit overwhelmed by all the noise and bustling people running into one another, but with some time, he thinks he can get used to it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So, uh, let me clear some things up bc I owe you all an explanation. I am NOT abandoning this work! It will get done! And I know I missed almost three weeks of updates, and changed it to only updating on Fridays. I got a little distracted.... 0-0. I had a bunch of tests for school and worked on a few other fics while taking an impromptu break from this one, however I am now back and will be doing my best to put out a new chapter on Fridays! Also, I really love y'alls theories that you drop in the comments !! :D
> 
> And finally, sorry for not updating for a while. I hope you're still looking forward to what's coming up though! :D

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts on the story? 
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SmithEAdin) | [Question?](https://curiouscat.qa/SmithEAdin)


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